


Guess who's back?

by SimplyEssa



Series: Spilling Red [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Aquaphobia, Claustrophobia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt No Comfort, Keith angst, Kuro - Voltron, Lotor's got a crush, M/M, Multi, Sendaks an ass, She pronouns for Pidge, flinching at everything, how does one tag, i can't do corans personality so just stick with me, i can't tag, klance, poor poor lance, season one and two spoilers, well maybe some comfort, youll probably hate me for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-04 03:19:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10982262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyEssa/pseuds/SimplyEssa
Summary: Everything is falling apart..Especially Keith.Keith and Shiro are brothers.He couldn't be taken from them.This couldn't be happening.They couldn't be separated again.





	1. Guess who's back.

**Author's Note:**

> hey there.  
> my motivation has returned.  
> me writers block ran away like the coward it is.  
> haha.  
> ha.  
> enjoy.

He stared at the empty pilot chair. 

Fear bubbled inside of him.

His breathing shortened.

This couldn't be happening. Not again. He couldn't be taken again. Not after last time.

He wracked his brain for how this could've happened.

The one memory he didn't want to show up. The only one that he would've burnt if he could.

'Keith, if I don't make it out of here... I want you to lead Voltron.'

How could he say that? Shiro would be okay. He would always be okay.

But no. Zarkon had to do something to him. 

Keith's knees buckled beneath him.

He didn't bother trying to stop himself from falling.

He wanted to make his body understand the pain he was feeling.

He wanted to take the pain away from Shiro.

He wanted to suffer for letting this happen.

Shiro didn't deserve this.

* * *

"Keith? Keith, buddy?"

Keith looked up at the tan boy trying to keep him up.

He tried to open his mouth to respond, or even nod.

His body didn't obey.

Trying to open his mouth once more, he succeeded, only to have no sounds come out.

"Are you okay?" Lance asked.

Keith looked towards Black-

Wait.

When did he leave Black?

Weren't they just lookin at Shiro's chair?

As if reading his mind, Lance answered. "You passed out and fell out of Black. We still aren't sure why." 

Grunting almost the entire time, Lance managed to hold him upright. "Can you stand?"

Keith tried to get his body to obey, but he still received no response. He tried to shake his head, only to fail.

"Why aren't you answering me?" Lance asked, trying to shift into a better position.

Apparently, Lance had hit a sensitive spot a little too hard.

Keith tried to hold back a groan, only to once again fail.

Lance immediately removed his hand and placed it somewhere else. "Sorry, man!"

Keith still couldn't respond.

Lance gently placed him onto the ground, removing his hands fully.

Now that, that was a bad idea.

Not being able to hold himself up, Keith fell to the ground.

"Shit! Sorry- sorry," Lance looked at Keith on the ground, helping him into a sitting position. "Allura? Coran? Anybody?"

When Lance yelled for anybody, Pidge and Hunk walked down Black's ramp, still slightly dazed from Shiro's disappearance.

Pidge was the first one to see Lance and Keith on the ground.

Her eyes widened, and she started walking towards them. 

"Pidge, what are you-" Hunk started to ask, watching her walk towards, well, Lance. "What the heck?"

Hunk started walking towards them as Pidge knelt down beside them.

"What happened?" Pidge asked, poking Keith.

Each time she poked his back and arm area, a hiss of pain tried to escape Keith. Tried.

"Well, Ms.I don't pay attention, I was the only one to notice that Keith fell down Black's ramp, and somehow ended up all the way over here with an injured back!" Lance shouted.

Pidge rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"How did you even managed to get all the way over here, Keith?" Hunk asked, looking at the distance between the lion and Keith.

Keith looked at the Lion, who he thought was a few inches in front of him. 

Apparently, Black was nearly fifteen feet away from him.

"Keith?" Hunk asked. When he received no answer, he looked to Lance curiously.

Lance shrugged. "I don't know. He hasn't been talking. Or moving, for that matter." Lance looked at Keith in annoyance. "Are you giving us the silent treatment or something?" 

Keith was unable to do anything in response except look at Lance.

Pidge pulled out a scanner and looked towards Hunk. "Go get Allura. Something could be seriously wrong."

Hunk did a mock-salute and left to find Allura.

"Turn him on his stomach," Pidge ordered.

Lance gently grabbed Keith and laid him on his stomach, head on Lance's thigh.

Pidge placed the cold scanner on Keith's now exposed skin, and pressed the button.

After a minute of scanning, Pidge put the machine back in her pocket.

"Well, his spine isn't broken. Nothing's broken, actually. Just a few bruises." She snickered, poking at one of them.

Keith hissed in pain while Lance swatted at Pidge's hand.

"Don't touch a bruise, you little gremlin."

Pidge just snickered in response.

Lance turned Keith around so he wouldn't have to be staring into his thigh.

"...moving?" Allura asked, coming into the room with Hunk at her side.

Hunk nodded. "Yeah. Lance said he wasn't moving."

Allura made her way to Keith's body on the floor, head in Lance's lap. "Is his spike broken?" she asked.

Pidge shook her head. 

Allura dragged a hand over her face. "Oh, how much easier it would have been..." she sighed.

"What do you mean?" Lance asked, stroking Keith's hair.

He would've stopped, but it seemed to calm Keith. Or aggravate him. It was hard to tell what Keith felt when he didn't talk. And when he talked.

It was hard to decipher what Keith felt at all.

Allura tapped her chin. "How do I explain this..."

"Ah! Okay. When Haggar hit you with that blast, it took your quintessence. The blast must have hit closer to Keith than the rest of you, so it took the quintessence out of him."

"What does that have to do with moving limbs and speaking?" Pidge asked.

"When the quintessence is taken from your body, it makes you unable to move any part of your body. Your eyes are still able to open and look around, but that's about it. In rare cases, the quintessence in your head manages to stay there, allowing you to move your head." She explained, pointing to Keith's head. 

"Then how are we moving?" Hunk asked, playing with the mice.

"As I said, it seems that Red took most of the blast, trying to prevent further damage to you or the other lions."

Lance snorted. "Red shirts galore."

The look in Keith's eyes, at that moment, were murderous.

"Wait, wait. Okay, so I kind of get it, I guess, but if that's the case, how was he moving during the battle? Was Red controlling him?" Hunk gasped. "Did Keith die and Red had to control him durin-"

"No, Keith did not die. It seems that he was running on pure adrenaline. Now that the battle is over, his adrenaline has faded, causing his limbs to stop cooperating. It's a surprise he's even awake."

"Well, uh, he did sort of, like, pass out, three minutes ago." Lance said, smirking while he did so.

"What's so funny?" Pidge asked, glaring in his direction.

"Our wittle Keithy boo got hurt! Our so called Mr. Tough passed out!"

Pidge sighed and joined Hunk in playing with the mice while Lance continued, getting annoyed glares from Keith. 

Allura bent down to the other two paladins. "He should be able to move his body fully, in... three quintant."

With that, she left the room. 

Pidge followed her, grabbing her laptop, trying to find places Shiro might be.

"...then he had to be saved by his knight in shining armour!" Lance exclaimed, finishing his mocks.

Keith's eyes were, once again, murderous.

This was much better than seeing Keith about to break down.

* * *

The next few days were rough. 

Keith was almost always in his room, unless he was forcibly dragged out by Lance to eat. 

There were two reasons for this.

1\. He couldn't move anything but his eyes, head, and now, a few fingers and toes.

2\. He didn't want to cry in front of everybody.

He had to keep his emotions bottled up. They were all dealing with the same thing.

Lance wasn't cracking as many jokes, with the heavy atmosphere.  

Coran had tried to make a siren with Lance making the noises to try and help them feel better, but Lance didn't want to do it.

Neither did Coran, but, it was worth a try.

Everyone's eyes were puffy and red from crying.

Except Pidge. All of her tears had come out a few minutes after he had disappeared. Then, she devoted her time to eating once a day, and trying to find Shiro.

A knock came at Keith's door. 

"Keith?" Lance asked, knocking again. "I know you still can't answer, but you gotta let me in. You haven't eaten in a while."

Keith tried to huff, only to let out a whimper.

Of course it would be a whimper. Because, when did the universe ever play nice with him?

Well, At least his mouth was opening again.

Lance placed his hand on the pad and the door slid open.

"Come on, pal, lets go." He said, walking towards Keith, who was in the same position as he was last time.

Keith moved his head towards Lance and narrowed his eyes. He didn't want to go eat.

Whenever he had to eat, Lance had to feed him. Lance being Lance, he made the train noises before depositing the spoon of goo into his mouth.

Lance grabbed Keith from his shoulders and placed him on his two feet.

Keith collapsed the minute his feet hit the ground.

Lance managed to catch him before he face planted, unlike the last time.

"Still can't stand. Got it." He sighed, grabbing Keith's waist.

Keith tried to say something in response. All he managed was to part his lips and lightly groan.

Lance snorted at the sight. "That's right, pal. You keep trying."

Lance adjusted his arm around his waist before lifting him up.

Keith managed to stiffen his body.

With a sigh, he put Keith back on the ground, still holding him.

"How you wanna do this, then?" Lance asked, glaring at Keith. "Blink once for fireman, twice for bridal, three times for piggyback, four times for over the shoulder."

Keith tried his best not to blink.

Unfortunatley, his body had different ideas. Once his eyes started to hurt, his eyelids were forced shut.

Lance snorted and draped Keith over his shoulders. "That's what you get for trying not to blink."

Keith tried to squirm, only managing to make his fingers move.

"Look at that! Maybe my manliness has helped you move." Lance mocked, looking at Keith's fingers.

When Keith made no response, like normal, Lance decided to continue bothering him. He left Keith's room and walked towards the dining room.

"What? No answer? Are you just speechless after seeing my epic fireman skills?" Lance teased, shifting the motionless Keith across his shoulders.

"Or are my looks to sexy for you to comprehend, leaving you in awe?"

Apparently, that was enough time to get enough quintessence into his mouth.

"What looks?" Keith asked, hoarse from disuse.

Lance yelped and somehow dropped Keith.

Lance placed his hands on his knees and breathed heavily. "Jesus, dude! Don't do that!"

After calming down, Lance grabbed Keith again, this time bridal style.

Keith groaned when Lance wiggled his eyebrows at him. 

"My beautiful damsel in distress." He teased.

Keith huffed.

Wait.

Did Lance just call him...

Beautiful?

"Beautiful?" Keith asked, his throat hurting from an unused voice.

Lance turned a deep shade of red. He immediately tried to play it off.

"What? Me? Nah, bro. Pssht. Like anyone would call this Mullet beautiful." He said, trying to play cool, only to turn redder and redder.

Keith smirked. It was fun to watch him sputter out random words.

"So, uh," he asked, trying to change the subject. "Did, you, uh, see the weather, er, today?"

Keith looked at Lance. "We're in space, you idiot."

Lance turned a darker shade of red, shifting Keith in his arms.

They walked- Well, Lance walked in an awkward silence as they walked towards the Kitchen/Dining area.

Once they entered the room, Lance stood proudly at the entrance.

"Our sleeping beauty awakes!" He shouted, causing everyone, but Pidge, to look towards the door.

Hunks eyes were the only ones that were still puffy and red.

Lance plopped Keith into the chair beside him, and grabbed two plates of goo. 

"Here we are," he said, grabbing a spoon. 

Keith sighed. "Can you not make the noises?" He asked, when he saw Lance pull the spoon out of the goo.

Hunk made a startled noise and fell out of his seat.

Pidge stopped typing for a second, looked over at Keith, then went back to typing. 

Allura stared at Keith for a second in disbelief. "My, you're healing fast, Keith!"

"Speaking of that," Lance interrupted, placing the spoon on the table. "Why can't we put Keith in a pod?"

Allura frowned. "Didn't I explain this?"

"Yes, you did, but Lance wasn't there." Hunk said, getting back into his spot.

"Oh. Well, if we were to put him in a pod, all of the quintessence that has re-entered his body will simply leave again."

"So, is the pod, like, a quintessence drainer?" Lance asked, picking up a spoon and waving it around as if the spoon would explain it.

"I suppose so, yes." She responded.

Lance picked up the spoon and held it in the air over Keith's mouth.

"Open wide!" He exclaimed, making train noises.

"I would if you-mFFT."

Lance forced the spoon into his mouth when Keith was talking.

"AHA!" Pidge screamed, causing Lance to drop the new spoon of goo into Keith's lap.

Keith glared at him.

"What the hell, Pidge?" Lance shouted.

Pidge was typing furiously at her computer now.

"Pidge?" Lance asked, getting out of his seat and walking towards her.

When he looked at the screen, his eyes widened.

"Lance?" Allura asked. "What's going on?"

Lance looked at Allura. Her eyes were full of concern.

Hunk had the same expression as Allura.

And Keith- Keith was still glaring, unable to get the goo off of his pants. His arms were still hanging by his side, unmoving.

"Pidge- she-" His voice cracked. "She found Shiro."


	2. Back again.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missions always went wrong in someway.  
> Why would this one be any different?
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Oh right. It wouldn't be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i will admit, that last chapter was pretty dull. but don't worry, this one will hopefully have more angst.

"Shiro?" Keith called out. "Is that you?"

He took a step forward, still leaning heavily on Lance.

The figure in the corner stayed where it was.

"Shiro?" He repeated, trying to step forward.

Lance stopped him from moving.

"Lance, what are you-"

Lance shoved Keith and himself to the side right before the figure slashed at where they stood.

* * *

 

**10 hours ago.**

Lance stood where he was behind Pidge, staring at the screen.

"If you found Shiro," Keith asked, still not able to get up, "why do you look so..." Keith stopped, searching for a word.

Lance looked up, regaining his cocky composure. He was still pale and his eyes were wide, but he was still an asshole.

"Handsome?" he supplied.

Ignoring Lance, Pidge turned the computer towards Keith so he could see what they were looking at. Allura and Hunk had already gotten up to see, and were frozen in place, with wide eyes.

It took Keith a minute to realise what he was looking at.

In the live security feed Pidge had managed to get, there was a motionless figure in the corner of the cell, laying flat on it's stomach. One arm looked to be prosthetic, while the other had a long and bloody cut going down the front of it. The figures shirt was ripped to shreds, and cuts were revealed on it's back, as well as old scars. One of it's legs were bent and near his waist, while the other was at an odd angle. There was a slight pool of blood forming underneath the figure, and a trail of blood lead to-

Suddenly, the camera feed changed to show a different point of view.

This camera came from the corner the figure was lying in, showing a hand cradled in the fake-galran one. The eyes of the figure were closed, and long cuts expanded from it's-his forehead to his chin.

Even with the closed eyes, Keith would recognise Shiro anywhere.

For a minute, Keith was shocked. Then, seeing it was Shiro, rage built inside of him.

If he were in a cartoon, (WINK WINK), steam would be coming out of his ear.

Pidge turned the computer back towards her.

Lance walked over to Keith, forgetting he couldn't move his limbs, as if he could hold Keith down.

Allura stopped him before he realised what he was about to do. "Lance, there's no need. He still can't move-"

To Allura's surprise, Keith regained control over his body. Keith punched the nearest thing to him at full force, which, unluckily, was Lance.

"Dude, what the hell?!" Lance screamed, draping both arms around his now bruised gut.

Keith blinked a few times, staring at his fist, unable to comprehend that he had just punched Lance in the gut.

"Allura!" Lance shouted, still holding his gut. He was now bent over himself. "What the hell?! You said three days! He shouldn't be able to move, let alone punch me!"

"I am unsure what these 'days' are, but, you are correct. He should not be able to move." She looked at Keith. "Before you were able to, er, punch Lance, what were you thinking of?"

Keith took a minute to respond, then frowned. "About how I was going to beat the shit out of who did that to him."

"Who is 'him'?" Allura asked.

"Shiro." Keith answered. "Wait. Where is Shiro, Pidge?"

Pidge seemed to ignore him, continuing her typing.

"He's, uh, in a Galran ship.." Hunk said, voice cracking near the end.

"Which." He didn't ask. He was demanding them for an answer.

Pidge looked up from the laptop and sighed. "Zarkon's."

* * *

 

Shiro lay on the experiment table, still strapped down. They had just stabbed to see what happened, not caring for the consequences.

The people who were slashing at him finally left the room, leaving him there.

It felt like hours before someone came in.

And, of course, it had to be Haggar.

Wait, no. Haggar and.. someone else? The alien following her looked... Altean.

He had white hair that reached his gut, with pointed ears and tinted purple skin.

"My prince," she said, thinking Shiro wasn't coherent enough to understand what they were saying, "you must prepare it soon."

The prince grimaced. "I know, Hag, but, my, is it ever fun to see what makes him work." He answered, poking one of Shiro's wounds.

Shiro hissed in pain, eyes falling closed.

He didn't have the energy to open them.

"My prince," she repeated, trying to regain his attention.

"Hmm?"

"We no longer need The Champion in here. We needn't anything else from him."

"And why is this concerning me?"

"Because," she sighed, seeming like she's explained this before, "we need some of your quintessence to mix with his to fulfil the plan." She explained.

"Oh, yes, yes. What's it for again?"

Once more, Haggar sighed. "We need to remove the yellow from his eyes. Your shape changing abilities will help with that."

"What does that-"

"BEFORE YOU ASK," Haggar shouted, interrupting him, "this ability of yours leaks into your quintessence. If we extract quintessence from you and the Champion, and mix them together, I can push that into my creation, leaving it with the grey eyes the Champion has."

"Oh." The prince said, removing his hand from Shiro's wound. "Where do we need to do this?"

"Right here," she said, presumably pointing to another table.

Shiro heard the click of straps going down and managed to open his eyes. He watched as Haggar injected a needle into the Altean/Galran's arm and pushing down. When she pulled it back up, it was filled with a yellowish purple liquid.

She placed it on a tray and turned to Shiro.

"You're turn," she grinned, grabbing an incredibly longer, and most likely, hurtful needle.

* * *

**9 hours ago.**

After what Pidge said, Keith stormed out of the room, surprised he could walk. He heard Lance call his name, saying something about 'Not walking'. He ignored the calls and headed towards Red's hangar.

Keith placed his hand on her leg, and pressed his forehead against it. "Come on girl," he breathed, waiting for her to open up.

She hummed in acknowledgement, but refused to open.

Huffing in annoyance, Keith turned around, only to bump into Lance.

"Sorry," Lance said. "but, Allura said to come back-"

"For what?" Keith unintentionally snapped. "To watch Shiro suffer more without helping him?"

"What?" Lance asked.

"We were just sitting there watching him suffer! No body was helping, and I couldn't do anything!" He shouted, about to break down.

No. He wasn't about to break down in front of any body. Especially not Lance.

Lance looked at Keith, unable to respond. His eyes were shining with un-shed tears, and his hands were balled into fists.

"Dude, no. That's not at all what she wanted. We were about to get ready to save-" Lance stopped, watching as Keith's fists slowly released, and his eyes trying to blink away tears. "Hey," Lance asked, gently putting a palm over his cheek.

Keith looked up, still trying to force his tears down. "What?" he managed to croak out.

"It's okay." He said, lightly forcing his chin up to look at him. "You don't need to keep it all down."

Keith kept his eyes on the floor when his head was forced up. He heard what Lance had said, but he didn't care. He didn't want to break down.

His body, though, had other ideas.

Slowly lifting his eyes, he wasn't expecting a soft and soothing expression from Lance. He was expecting a smirk or cocky grin, calling him a baby for crying.

Unable to contain his tears, any longer, Keith wrapped his arms around Lance and sobbed.

Lance wrapped his arms back around Keith and rubbed circles into his back, whispering encouraging words into his ear.

After a few minutes, Keith's sobs had died down and his tears had stopped. He stood in Lance's arms for a few minutes longer, before releasing.

"Better?" Lance asked, still looking at Keith.

Keith nodded.

"Good, because Allura's going to be furious with us."

Keith let out a shaky laugh before heading out the door of the hangar, Lance beside him.

* * *

**A few hours ago.**

"So," Allura said, explaining her plan, "We'll take the Green Lion in. It has a cloaking ability, and can fit all 4 of you. Pidge, you will land in an unsupervised area," Allura said, pointing to a docking bay on the map, "and turn on the particle barrier. You and Hunk will go into the control room to try and keep the cameras off Keith and Lance, who will be going to find Shiro. The coordinates and route to where he is has been uploaded to your suits. Any questions?"

Nobody raised their hand, or asked a question.

"Good," she smiled, dismissing them. "Get your suits and meet in the Green Lion's hangar in 5 dobashes."

Lance did a mock salute and ran towards his room to get his suit on.

* * *

**Two hours ago.**

When Lance got to Green's dock, everyone but Pidge was there.

"Where's Pidge?" He asked, walking towards Keith and Hunk.

"Inside," Hunk said, walking into the Green Lion.

"Oh. Duh," Lance said, about to follow Hunk when he felt a hand on his arm.

Lance turned around to see Keith's hand on him and Keith staring at the floor.

"Yea?" Lance asked, trying not to be cocky. 

Oh, how very hard it was.

Keith slowly raised his eyes to Lance's.

"Thank you," he said, letting go of Lance's arm and walking into the Lion.

Lance stood there for a second, startled, before going into the Lion as well.

* * *

**Thirty minutes ago.**

The Green Lion landed in the unsupervised docking bay.

To their surprise, when they walked out, no Galra soldiers or sentries were in the area.

After making sure Pidge and Hunk had gotten to the control room safely, Lance followed Keith down the route to Shiro.

They didn't talk while going for Shiro. The Galra didn't need to know they were here.

Keith was leading, staring at the screen, thinking about what happened earlier.

He'd never seen Lance gentle like that before. It was as if he was dreaming. He would've thought that if he hadn't seen the tear tracks on his cheeks. And, what had Lance been about to do? He clearly tried changing the topic when he said Allura was furious with him-

"Keith!" Someone shouted into the comms. "Watch out!"

Keith had been to lost in his thoughts to realize that a 9 foot tall Galran Soldier was about to bump into him.

He grabbed Lance and shoved him into the nearest hall, hoping he didn't see them.

Luck was not on their side, today.

Keith waited until he heard the Galra soldier leave, then turned the corner once more, only to be grabbed by the throat. 

"Wha-ghak-" He dropped his bayard when he was raised over the Galran's head.

He was at least ten feet in the air.

Keith squirmed in his grasp, kicking in front of him. He tried to punch the Galra, but he only grabbed his wrist and squeezed. Really hard.

A harsh snap echoed through the hall. Keith managed to keep himself from crying out, or, maybe that was the lack of oxegyn?

Keith hardly saw when a blast hit the Galra in the head, due to his vision. It kept getting darker, until the hand was released.

Keith fell to the floor, when another snap was echoed through the hallway.

Keith looked around wildly, thinking something of Lance's had been broken. He saw Lance, standing with his gun aimed at the motionless figure on the ground, just to be safe.

Keith tried to get up to see if Lance was okay, only to nearly pass out.

Lance immediately turned his bayard down and away from the figure and ran towards Keith, who had fallen at the attempt to stand up.

Lance knelt down, placing his bayard on the ground.

"Hey, Keith? Are you okay?" He asked, concern filling his features.

"Ow." Was his only response.

Lance surveyed Keith head to toe. 

"Merda..." he said under his breath. "Okay, so, your ankle and wrist is definitely broken-"

"Lance? Lance, what's wrong?" Pidge asked through the comms. 

"The Galra guy managed to grab Keith and break his ankle and wrist." Lance looked back to his neck. "He, uh, strangled him with a robotic hand too. There are burn marks on his neck."

What? Keith didn't feel the burning...

"Lance, Keith, return to the Green Lion." Allura said with a pained voice. She didn't want to leave Shiro behind, but Keith was in no condition to help him.

"No!" Keith snapped. "We can't leave Shiro!"

"Dude, you have a broken-"

"I don't care! Please, Allura. I'm fine. We can still get Shiro." He pleaded.

"Keith, I'm sorry, but-" Allura apologized.

"Oh, screw this." Lance said, helping Keith up. "We're getting Shiro."

Keith put his arm over Lance's shoulders while Lance draped his around Keith's waist.

The bayards had gone back to their suits from the magicyness in them.

Lance followed the route to Shiro's cell, ignoring the desperate cries to get them back.

"Lance, please, Keith is too heavily hurt to help Shiro. You can't help both of them at the same time-" Allura told him.

"I can, and I will, Allura." Lance snapped. "No matter how many times you ask, we're not going back."

It was rare to see Lance angry at something. Keith would've grinned if he wasn't in so much pain.

They had finally reached Shiro without any more attempts for them to come back from their teammates.

"Pidge," Lance asked. "Could you-" He was cut off by the door opening. "Thank you," he said, walking into the cell.

"Pfft. No problem. There coding sucks anyways."

Lance looked around the room,  looking for any sign of Shiro.

Lance couldn't see much in the darkness, but at least Keith could.

"Shiro?" he called out. "Is that you?"

Keith took a step forward, still leaning heavily on Lance.

Lance eyes finally adjusted to the darkness. There was a figure curled into a ball. One hand was where they could see it, and the prosthetic was in front of the figure.

Lance rested his eyes on the arm. It... it looked like it was purple.

Blue hummed in worry at the back of Lance's mind. 

The figure didn't move when Keith said his name.

"Shiro?" He repeated, trying to step forward.

Lance stopped him from moving. Something was off about the person before them.

"Lance, what are you-"

Lance shoved Keith and himself to the side right before the figure could attack where they were standing.

"Allura!" he shouted, still trying to avoid the creatures attack. "This is definitely not Shiro!"

"What?" Pidge hissed through the comms. Lance swore he could hear Pidge typing furiously.

"Shitshitshitshit..." Pidge repeated over and over. 

Lance was still trying, and failing, to avoid the attacks.

The creature swung its claws at Lance, who didn't have time to avoid it.

Keith pushed himself in front of Lance, taking the hit instead.

"Keith!" Lance shouted.

Keith had fallen to the floor, blood dripping from his stomach.

"What's going on?" Allura shouted.

Lance ignored her and grabbed his bayard. He shot the creature in the head right before it could keep attacking.

Lance grabbed Keith again.

"Hey, buddy, you gotta stay awake, okay?"

Keith nodded weakly.

Lance grabbed him again, letting himself carry Keith's weight.

"It was a trap," Lance said, heading back to the Green Lion.

"Got it!" Pidge shouted when a light to their right shone brightly for a second.

Lance turned to see a doorway with a window. He peeked in and saw Shiro.

The real Shiro.

He was awake, with one cut across his chest.

"I- I found Shiro." He said.

"Me too!" Pidge exclaimed,"I'm turning off the cameras now!"

Lance opened the door and walked in.

Shiro was strapped to a table, hands tied to it.

When he saw them walk in, his eyes widened in horror, concern, and worry.

Keith's eyes were half closed, a non broken hand draped over his bleeding stomach, who was leaning on Lance.

Shiro struggled furiously to try and get out to help them.

"Dude, its fine. He's fine-"

"No he's not!" Shiro shouted.

Lance placed Keith against a wall, who sunk to the floor. Lance lightly smacked Keith across the face. "Stay awake." He ordered.

Keith nodded, opening his eyes.

Lance walked over to Shiro and took off the restraints.

"Are you okay?" Lance asked, pulling the last restraint off.

"Fine," he grunted, standing up to get to Keith.

Shiro made as to pick him up, before Lance stopped him.

"No, nonono. I'm carrying him. You just make sure to walk."

Sighing in defeat, Shiro backed up to give Lance space.

Lance managed to pick up Keith, with many protests from Keith, saying he could walk, he's fine, blah blah blah. Lance ignored him and carried him bridal-style, grunting nearly the entire time.

"You're heavy," Lance huffed, "for such- a small, guy."  He said between grunts.

Keith just glared.

"Put your arms around my neck."

Keith hesitated.

"You're not gonna break something. Go ahead."

Lance and Shiro had made it out into the hallway by the time Keith had wrapped his arms around Lance.

"Lance," Shiro asked.

"Yea?" Lance responded, without turning around.

He was more focused on getting Keith help then much else, at the moment.

"What happened to him?"

"Stupid creature-" he huffed out. Keith was actually really light, but, he wanted to annoy the Red Paladin. "and stupid- galra- he's a freaking- red shirt-" he said in between gasps of air.

How far away was Green, anyways?

"What happen-happened to you?" Keith asked, clearly trying to not pass out. "and, Lance, you can- put m-e down now-"

"Hell no! You could hardly-"

" _Lance_." Shiro glared at Lance, motivating him to stop. Shiro's steps were becoming the slower the farther they got. "And, Keith, I'm fine. I'm more worried about you, right now."

Keith took one arm off of Lance and waved it around, as if that would explain it. "You've been gone for two days, Shiro!"

"And I'm fine-"

"You look like you can hardly stand! What'd they do to you?" Keith half-shouted. At the end of the sentence, Keith was breathing heavily.

"Keith-"

"Shiro!" Pidge shouted, when the the Green lion came into view.

She ran into Shiro and hugged him, completely ignoring Lance and Keith.

Hunk, on the other hand, had stopped to make sure they were alright before going to see Shiro.

Hunk helped Shiro walk into the Green Lion, while Pidge started it up.

Lance walked up the ramp and placed Keith on the floor of the cockpit.

Shiro was leaning against the wall, Hunk ready to catch him if he fell.

Pidge flew away with the Green Lion, and not one Galra ship attacked them.

"That was too easy.." Hunk mumbled.

Lance agreed with Hunk, but he was more focused on keeping Keith alive than that.

After depositing Shiro and Keith into the healing pods, they recapped the mission to Allura and Coran.

The whole time they explained, Allura gave dirty looks to Lance.

"Then, the Galra kind of-"

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lance finally asked, cutting off Pidge, who glared at him.

"You disobeyed direct orders!" Allura explained/shouted.

"I was trying to find Shiro, you know, like we were supposed to do?!"

"By risking Keith's life!"

"He wanted to keep looking for Shiro, and nothing was bad enough for him to die!"

"And what if you ran into more Galra, Lance? What would you have done then?" Coran interrupted, trying to stop the fight between them.

"I would have thought of something!" Lance waved his hands around. "But, I didn't need to, because we didn't run into any more Galra!"

"You... you didn't run into any Galra? At all?" Pidge asked.

"Well, yea. It was just that weird creature."

"That's.. That's not good.." Allura whispered, going to the controls.

"What?" Lance asked. Everybody but him seemed to know what was going on. "What's wrong?"

"According to the blueprints," Pidge explained, "those hallways should have had at least one sentry go by you. Are you sure there was none?"

Lance nodded.

"Something is definitely wrong." Allura stated. "I think they knew we were coming. It must've been a trap."

"Uh, did you not hear me mention that creature?" Lance asked.

"Yes, but, I fear it could be something much worse." Allura sighed. "I'm wormholing the ship away."

"But, princess, if you do that, it amy hurt the boys further-" Coran said, extremely worried for his Red and Black Paladin.

"It will just take longer, Coran. No damage will be done."

Coran sighed. "If you say so, Princess."

"What?" Hunk asked. "What do you mean "It may hurt the boys further"?!"

"They won't be hurt," Allura reassured Hunk, while setting up the wormhole. "It will only delay the time they need to be healed."

Hunk sighed in relief.

"And how long would that take?" someone asked.

The castle was already in the wormhole. Allura turned around, startled by the new, but familiar, voice.

"Shiro!" she exclaimed. "Wait- Shiro? What are you doing up?! You should be in there for at least another varga!"

"Actually, Princess, due to his minor injuries, he only needed half a varga to be in there." Coran explained.

"Really?" Lance questioned. That didn't seem right.

Coran nodded.

"How long will the- Keith take?" Shiro asked.

_Was he going to say the Red Paladin?_

 

 

"Only about another varga." Coran told him.

Was Lance the only one noticing Shiro was acting weird?

Shiro looked at Lance, like he was studying him. "What's wrong, Lance?"

"What?" Lance asked, "Nothing! Well, I mean, Red Shirt got himself hurt and put in a pod, but, I'm good, bruh."

Lance cursed himself internally. Way to act normal.

Shiro cocked an eyebrow at Lance, then looked back at Allura.

"You should get some rest, Shiro."

"I'm fine-" he tried to say, only to be cut off by Allura.

"I'm ordering you to get some rest. I'm sure you've been through a lot." She said, giving him a smile.

He returned the smile. "Alright. You guys get some rest too, okay?"

"Of course." Coran assured him. "And when you wake, we'll have some goo prepared for you!"

"Thanks, A- Coran."

Shiro smiled and turned towards the door, leaving the room.

Lance swore he saw a flash of yellow in Shiro's eyes before he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you thought Shiro would be hurt? HAH. YOU THOUGHT WRONG.  
> seriously tho this isn't over. a lot more stuff will go wrong and what not. so, ye. if you've got any ideas, or whatever, just comment it below.  
> thanks to the people who have 'kudos' though.  
> i hope you guys are enjoying it so far-  
> i'll be updating daily from now on:)


	3. *blank* is back.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hm. Maybe their mission had gone right.  
> That almost never happens.  
> ...  
> Little did they know...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that summary tho.  
> the name is *blank* is back, because for now im doing song lyrics, and i didnt want tospoil those people that Shiro's back by putting  
> "Shiro's back"  
> because he is, right?  
> right..?  
> guys..?

A varga had passed.

Lance was waiting eagerly outside of Keith's pod, like everyone but Shiro, who was still resting.

"Now?" Lance whined, trying to open the pod.

Allura smacked his hand away. "A few more ticks!"

"What difference would it make?"

"A lot, actually. And, Lance, the pod will release Keith when he is ready." Allura looked at the pod, waiting for Keith to come out.

"Should somebody get Shiro?" Pidge asked.

"On-" Lance cut Hunk off.

"Did anyone else notice he was acting weird?"

"Shiro?" Hunk asked.

Lance nodded.

"How so?" Hunk asked, turning to face Lance.

"Well, when he asked when Keith would be ready, it sounded like he was going to say  _The Red Paladin_. Then, when he was talking to Coran, it sounded like he was about to call him _Adviser_." Lance explained.

"The Galra may have messed with his mind, a tad, Lance. He might've forgotten the names for a moment." Allura reassured him.

"Maybe..." Lance tried to remember what else happened. "Oh! And, when he left the room, I swear to God I saw-"

_FWOOSH._

Lance was cut off by the pod opening. At that moment, everyone turned away from Lance and looked at the pod.

Keith fell out of the pod, and Pidge, being the closest, got in the way of him hitting the ground. It was quite a struggle, considering her size, and he would have fallen if Hunk hadn't grabbed him.

Lance looked at Keith. All of his injuries were fixed, but his eyes were still closed.

Lance panicked, and went to the worst case scenario. 

_Why aren't his eyes opening? Is Keith dead? How did he die? We got him in a pod!_

"Lance, buddy, calm down." Hunk said, seeing Lance's panic.

"Lance, Keith is fine. He has not awoken yet. When we got him into the pod, he had passed out on the table. He must've been exhausted." Coran reassured him.

Even though Coran had tried, Lance was not reassured.

He couldn't tell if Keith was breathing or not.

* * *

Pfft. Like he was going to rest.

How stupid were they? 

He had nearly slipped up twice. Haggar would not be please.

He dove his hand into his pocket, looking for the vial Haggar had given him.

Grabbing the vial, he turned the corner into the med-bay, where Keith was healing in a pod.

"Poor, poor Red Paladin." He whispered, opening the tube that gave the healing properties to the pod.

He dumped the liquid from the vial into the tube, and placed a hand on the glass that separated them.

Once the pod filled with Haggar's liquid, he closed the tube.

He returned once more to the front of the pod.

It took a few seconds, but her liquid had worked.

Keith's body jerked and his eyes shot open, only to slam closed again.

There was no doubt Keith hadn't seen someone standing in front of him, smiling wickedly.

He watched as Keith's chest stopped moving, and his body went limp.

_There. One down, 6 to go._

* * *

Lance followed  Hunk and Allura out of the med-bay to Keith's room. He would have followed them inside of it, but Allura pushed Lance into his own room, insisting he needed to rest.

"But, Allura, he might wake up! I need-"

"You need rest, Lance. Go get some sleep. That's an order," she, well, ordered.

Sighing in defeat, Lance watched the door close in front of him.

He turned around and walked towards the bed.

"Hello,  _Lance,_ " someone snarled.

Lance instinctively went into a defence stance, whipping his head around to face the intruder.

Lance sighed in relief, letting his fists drop. It was just Shiro.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" he asked.

The lights in his room were still off, so Lance couldn't see him clearly. It looked like he was leaning against a wall, in a shadow, with his arms crossed.

It almost looked like Shiro was glaring at him.

Hah. Like Shiro glares.

"Figured I should check up on you guys," he responded, pushing up from the wall. He walked towards Lance. "Is Keith up yet?"

Lance nodded, then realised Shiro wouldn't see him nod. "Yea, but he hasn't actually woken up."

"What? Why?"

"Allura said somethin' 'bout resting," he said.

Lance turned around and pressed the button that would turn the lights off.

"Well, anyways," he said, turning around, "Allura said I sho..." his voice trailed off when he looked at the person in front of him.

This person looked like Shiro, and sounded like- no. He didn't sound like Shiro. He didn't look like Shiro.

Shiro had gray eyes, and a less dark voice.

This person had glowing, yellow eyes, a rough voice, and fang-like teeth.

"ALL-" Lance tried to scream, making her aware there was an intruder on board. Shiro shoved a hand over his mouth, cutting off his voice. Before Lance could react, Shiro's doppelganger grabbed his wrists and held them tight.

He leaned his head closer to Lance's ear. Lance struggled against the iron grip against his mouth and over his wrists, to no avail.

"Now, now," he breathed, "that's no way to treat a guest."

Glaring at the new person in front of him, Lance bit into the hand that was over his mouth. Fortunately, it was his real hand, and not his prosthetic. Unfortunately, the hand holding his wrists only tightened.

The person brought his head up to Lance's ear.

"My name's Kuro," he grinned wickedly. "And this could've been so much easier." he whispered.

Kuro removed his prosthetic arm from his now broken wrists, and shoved it into his gut.

A burning, white hot pain burst throughout his body.

Lance's screams were covered by the hand over his mouth.

Kuro left his hand there for a few more seconds, then removed it at lightning speed. He let go of Lance's mouth and laughed as he watched him crumple to the floor, writhing in pain.

Lance laid there for a few moments, laying in his own forming pool of blood.

Once he saw that Lance was slowly falling unconscious, he walked towards the door, opening it a crack, to see if Allura and Hunk had left. Seeing that they had indeed left, he slipped through the doorway. His eyes had returned to the gray Shiro's were, and his teeth were no longer fangs. The only problem was his prosthetic arm. It was covered in blood. Lance's blood.

He walked down the hallway, going to Shiro's quarters, when he heard a door open. Lance was unconscious when he left, so there as no way he could've followed him out, and Keith was good as dead.

"Shiro?" Allura asked, seeing him in the hallway. Kuro cursed under his breath and stopped walking. He hid his Galran arm behind his back and turned around smiling.

"Hey, how's Keith doing?"

"Well," she answered, not asking about how he knew Keith was up. "but he still has not awoken." she frowned.

Kuro moved his other hand behind his back to interlock with the bloody fake one. It would look more natural.

Allura smiled again. "What are you doing up, Shiro? I ask-ordered you to rest."

"I couldn't sleep well," he 'admitted'. He was really just deciding on how to kill the other paladins. Haggar said " _Clean and quiet. They musn't find out until it's too late._ "

"Oh. Are you receiving nightmares?" She asked, knowing what the answer would be.

Kuro nodded. "Would it be alright if I went to see Keith?"

"Why, of course! Maybe if he sensed your presence, he will wake up." She teased.

Kuro let himself snort. He just wanted to make sure Keith was dead.

Allura walked to his door and placed her hand on the pad, letting the door open. Kuro went to the other side of the door and stood there for a moment. "Sorry, I meant alone," he said, looking her in the eyes.

"Oh my! Sorry, I did not realise-"

"It's okay," he answered, wanting to get the stupid conversation over with.

"Well, if he wakes up, do let us know," she said, turning around and walking once more.

Kuro entered Keith's room, the door sliding shut beside him. He quickly hurried to the bathroom to wash the blood of of his hand.

He dried off his hands and walked back into the room.

He looked at Keith. He was laying motionless on top of the covers, eyes closed. One hand was falling off the bed, while the other was draped over his stomach. His chest was still moving up and down, but it normally took a few hours for the poison to work. He wouldn't be breathing soon.

Kuro was about to walk closer to Keith, when a scream erupted from down the hall.

Kuro ran out of the doorway and down the hall, to the sound of the scream.

It was coming from Lance's room.

He opened the door to his room, to see Allura kneeling on the ground beside a, most likely, dead Lance.

"Is everything okay?"  _I want you dead._ "What's going on?" He asked, trying to fill his voice with worry and concern.  _You will die next, Altean._

Allura didn't face him, and kept leaning over Lance. "Coran!" she shouted, once more, arms trying to block his wound. 

"Allura, what's wrong?" he asked, knowing the answer. He stepped closer to Lance, as Hunk burst into the room, Coran beside him.

"He-he was just lying here-" Allura tried to speak more, but her voice failed her. Kuro leaned over her shoulder, and fake froze in shock.

Coran rushed over. "Princess, what- _oh, my quiznak,_ " he cursed. "Hunk, please, come grab Lance."

Hunk obeyed Coran and walked over, picking up Lance, forcing tears down as he did so.

_Dammit. They weren't supposed to heal him._

Coran and Hunk left the room to the med-bay.

The door slid shut behind them, and Kuro moved again.

Allura stayed where she was, still kneeling over the puddle of Lance's blood.

"How could this have happened...no intruders were alerted onto the castle..." she kept muttering to herself.

"Allura," Kuro said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault," he said. He kept repeating it into her ear.

Once she calmed down, Kuro rubbed her shoulder. Then, he shoved his glowing Galran hand through her chest.

She gasped in pain, her eyes fluttering closed.

He twisted his hand, and could smell burning flesh. He removed his hand, and let her crumple to the floor, into Lance's pile of blood.

She laid on her side, motionless, her eyes closed. Her white hair was covered in blood.

Kuro stayed there to make sure she wasn't going to move, then started walking towards the bathroom, to clean his hand off.

That's when he heard footsteps coming towards the room.

_Shit,shit,shit,shit-_

He had an idea. A painful idea.

He turned his hand back on, braced himself, then shoved his hand through his gut, and pulled it out.

He screamed in fake pain and fell to the floor, making sure his Galran hand was turned off, and laying in Lance's blood.

The door suddenly flew open, and the lights turned on.

Kuro couldn't figure out who was standing there, but he was certain it wasn't Lance. He made his eyes flutter closed, to make it look like he passed out.

The hand, surprisingly, didn't hurt him. He was somehow immune to his own hand.

He was 'bleeding out' in Lance's pool of blood. There was still a hole in his stomach, but it hadn't done damage.

"Allura! Shiro!" Keith screamed.

Wait. Keith? How was Keith awake?

He should have still been asleep, and dead in the next hour.

Unless... unless someone had used magic on him.

He growled at the thought. Allura had magic.

Keith took the growl as a whimper, and came over to him.

He felt two fingers on his neck, then heard a sigh of relief.

Apparently, Keith didn't remember what happened. He hoped Lance wouldn't either.

Keith removed his fingers from Kuro's neck and, presumably, went to Allura.

Kuro heard Keith gasp. "Nononononononononononono,"

Shiro let his eyes open, and turned his head slightly. He saw Keith trying to pick up Allura, but it seemed the poison was still affecting him, just not in a deadly or fatal way. He stumbled trying to pick her up, then turned towards Kuro again.

"Oh, thank God," he sighed, seeing Kuro was awake. "Coran!" He screamed.

"No," he said, trying to make his voice sound hoarse. "He-he won't hear you-"

"Where is he?" Keith asked, desperate to find him.

"Med-bay,"

Keith shot up from his spot on the floor and flew out of the room.

Kuro got up and walked towards Allura, then pushed her on her back.

He knelt beside her and placed his Galran hand over chest, turning it on.

Kuro was waiting for Keith to come back in, so he wouldn't look suspicious. He would be 'electrocuting' her, to get her heart starting. Of course, it would only look like that. He wouldn't actually be helping her.

The door to the room opened, revealing Keith, Coran, and Hunk.

Kuro had his real hand draped over his stomach, and his glowing Galran hand over Allura's chest.

Coran rushed over and removed Kuro's hands. "It's okay," he said, mainly reassuring himself, and picked up Allura bridal-style.

He ran out of the room, careful to not hurt her further, while Hunk did the same with Kuro.

While being carried, Kuro remembered something Prince Lotor had told him.

_Do not kill the Blue or Red Paladin. I want them alive._

Oops. Hopefully, Lance was still alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> he made a boo-boo.  
> Lotor said alive, not dead, you stupid kid.  
> Lotor won't be happy with him.  
> and if any of you are wondering, because you might be confused, that is not Shiro, they only think it is.  
> well, Lance knows its not Shiro, and that his name is Kuro.  
> so yea.  
> if you see any typos in the story lemme know in comments or something. ill be sure to fix it. :) hope you enjoy :)


	4. oh. No, he really isn't.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, maybe Kuro had failed his mission.  
> Maybe he hadn't.  
> Kuro wouldn't know unless he took Lance out of the pod himself...  
> In fact, maybe Lotor would be pleased if he took Lance with him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooooohhhh cliffhanger summary what has this world come to.  
> lMfAo EnJoY  
> (lOOk iT mE iM tEm)

Hunk stood outside of the pods, urging Keith to eat.

"Dude, come on, you got out of the pods asleep. The least you could do-"

"Is wait for them to wake up? No problem." Keith helped him finish his sentence. So, maybe Lance was rubbing off on him.

Hunk sighed, dragging his hand over his face. Keith could be very stubborn.

"This is unhealthy. Allura would disapprove."

He looked at Keith, who was sitting on the floor. Keith was glaring up at him.

"Fine," he huffed out. "then I'm going to train."

Keith got up from the floor, crossing his arms.

Seeing an opportunity, Hunk grabbed Keith around the waist, throwing him over his shoulder.

"Hunk, hey- Hunk! Let go! Put me down!" Keith protested, slamming his fists on Hunk's back.

"First off; ow." Hunk grunted, leaving the med-bay. "Secondly; you need to eat. You got the rest, now the eat part."

"Part of what?" Keith asked, letting his hands fall down Hunk's back. Hunk was clearly not letting go.

"The 'I-was-in-a-cryo-pod-for-at-least-an-hour-and-that-means-rest-and-food', part."

"That's not-"

"Don't question the magic," Hunk said, walking into the kitchen. "And, you're not getting off of my shoulder. If I put you down, you'll bolt, and I'm not running through the castle-ship to find you."

Huffing in protest, Keith kicked Hunk.

"Ow," Hunk sighed, getting some goo out of the weird fridge thing.

* * *

Just like he suspected, as soon as he put Keith down, so he could eat, Keith bolted.

"It was for your own good!" Hunk shouted, watching Keith run out of the room.

Hunk started cleaning up the goo, when Coran burst into the room.

"Hunk, thank goodness!" He shouted, pulling the bigger man into a hug.

Being the scaredy-cat he was, he dropped the plate of goo from being startled.

"Coran, I'm all for hugs, but you gotta-"

"Have you see Keith?" He asked, worry on his face. He had let go of Hunk to look into his face. A fierce expression of concern and worry was scribbled all over Coran's.

"He just ran out of here. Why?"

A sudden expression of panic was on his face, but was soon covered up with concern and worry once more. "I've figured out what attacked Allura and Lance, thanks to the excellent vision on the security cameras, and oh my, it's a wonder how we even created security cameras. They're marvellous-"

"Coran, off topic."

"Oh,yes,yes. Sorry. When trying to figure out what got Lance, on the feed, it showed him talking to Shiro in his room. Then, the lights came on, and it showed something that wasn't Shiro. It had these glowing yellow eyes, with fangs and his voice... It wasn't Shiro's. I'm not entirely sure who it was, but it impaled Lance and waited for him to pass out." Coran stopped for a minute, proceeding to breathe.

"Seeing that it clearly wasn't Shiro, I went into the earlier feed to try and find something that would help. In the med-bay, when Keith was resting, Shiro came in and dumped something into the tube that gave the pod the healing properties.  I'm not sure what it was, but when he went to face Keith again, Keith's body jerked in it's place, proceeding to spasm for a few dobashes before passing out once more."

Coran stopped, waiting for Hunk to let the information settle in. It was a lot to hear at once.

Hunk's faced paled, and turned into a look of anger and concern. "So, Keith must be fine, then? But, if you're saying it's not Shiro, and this thing had managed to nearly kill Lance, Allura and Keith, then-"

"This thing is trying to kill us. When he stabbed Allura, with his own hand, Keith was coming in. He then stabbed himself, but no blood or pain came from it. He just lowered himself into Lance's blood to make it look like he was hurt."

"So, he can't be hurt? Or is he just immune to his own hand?"

"I am not certain, but we need to find Keith. Now. Where would he be?" Coran's face was laced with fear for the Red Paladin.

"Training room or med-bay," Hunk said, running out of the room without hesitation.

Coran followed him out. "We should not split up. It would make us more vulnerable."

Hunk nodded. "He should be in the med-bay."

When they reached the med-bay, Hunk's earlier statement was put to shame. "Training deck it is, then." Hunk decided, turning to leave the room.

"Oh, quiznack, no-" Coran cursed, following Hunk.

"What's wrong? Well, other than this whole crap-fest of wrongness," Hunk said, breathing harshly from the running.

"The thing in Shiro's body- it wasn't in the pod. Neither was Lance.  I fear that he may have taken Lance, and could have intentions to take Keith as well."

"Quiznack." Hunk breathed. "What about Allura?"

"She seems as if she is not healing." He said, slightly panicking.

They were quiet for a minute, and the only noise was their breathing and feet hitting the ground.

"Do you have any idea where Pidge might be?" Coran asked, breaking the silence from the long run.

"Working off her frustrations in her room." Hunk said automatically, knowing she was there. "Oh, wait no, she could be in danger, and then-"

"It is fine, Hunk." Coran answered. "I locked all of the doors when I learned of the monster. When she realises it is locked, she will-"

Coran was cut off by Pidge's angered scream. "What the hell, Coran?! Unlock my door! I'll hack it, if necessary!" Her voice came from Coran's communication device. You know, the one in his moustache?

 "Pidge, please, do not come out of that room unless absolutely necessary.

"What? Why?" she asked, still pissed off.

"Because-"

"Because there's this killer thing loose that looks like Shiro and to take caution Coran locked all bedroom doors so no one else could get hurt!"

"Oh. Are you guys okay?" she asked.

"Yes, Pidge, we're fine. We're looking for him now, actually. But, please, stay in the room, unless we say otherwise." Coran answered.

Hunk could clearly hear Pidge's huff. "Fine." she muttered.

Coran pulled a device from his pocket, pressing his fingers on it.

"What are you doing?" Hunk asked. "And how far away is the stupid training deck?" 

"Only about another dobash. I am pulling up security feed of the training deck, to make sure Keith and Lance-"

Coran was interrupted by a scream.

" _Shiro!_ "

* * *

 After bolting from the kitchen, against Hunk's wishes, Keith ran to the training deck.

_Hunk was right, it is unhealthy to just watch them._

So, to make things right, he would just train instead.

When he entered training deck, Shiro was already there.

"Shiro?" Keith asked, walking closer. "What are you doing out of the pod? You had a hole in your stomach!"

Kuro turned around, facing Keith, who was now a few feet in front of him.

"I should've been able to stop it-" he croaked out, sounding ashamed. Hopefully, Keith would buy it. He had all of Shiro's memories, so he knows Keith would be gullible enough to fall for it.

Keith stood there, as if he were glued to the spot.

_Do not kill the Red or Blue Paladin._

"Shiro, no, you couldn't have known."

_I want them alive._

"It's not your fault," Keith said, stepping closer.

_But that doesn't mean,_

Kuro looked into Keith's eyes. They were full of concern.

_they can't be hurt._

Pathetic. Kuro shook his head, and looked at Keith then at his bayard, which was forming in his hand.

"Do you want to spar?" Kuro asked, intending to beat him bloody.

"Sure, but, Shiro," Keith said, trying to get Kuro to look at him. Kuro looked back at Keith. "Don't push yourself. Stop if you need too."

Kuro nodded. He was fully intending on making Keith beg for mercy.

"Do you know how long Lance will take?" Keith asked, getting into a fighting stance, across the room from Shiro.

Kuro shrugged, also getting into a fighting stance. "Maybe about an hour?" Unknowingly to Keith, Lance was unconscious behind a few boxes that held Altean technology, on the opposite side of the training deck.

Keith charged at Kuro, trying to knock him down. Kuro easily dodged, grabbed Keith by the throat and slammed him, back first, into the ground by his robotic arm. 

He could feel his eyes starting to turn yellow, and his teeth growing sharper. But of course, he was making it so that would happen.

Keith's eyes widened in fear at his eyes. "Shiro, you're eyes-"

Kuro still hadn't removed his hand from Keith's neck that pinned him to the ground. He held tighter, causing Keith to stop talking and try to breathe.

"I know," he growled, letting go of Keith.

Keith pushed himself onto his side and started coughing. "Shiro," he choked out, getting to his feet. "Shiro- what just happened?"

Kuro didn't answer, allowing his eyes to be consumed by the yellow shade of the Galra.

Keith stood there, waiting for an answer. 

Kuro charged this time, only, it was at lightning speed. Keith didn't have time to dodge his Galran arm.

Keith cried out in pain when the burning hand punched his side. His shirt had been burnt off, exposing burnt skin.

"Shiro, what's going on?! Why are you-" Kuro sliced upwards at Keith, causing him to gasp in pain. A cut was exposed through his sliced shirt, which was now, covered in blood.

"Shiro, it's just flashback-" Keith managed to choke out, thinking Kuro was in a flashback.

Kuro grabbed Keith's throat and lifted him in the air. He clutched weakly at Kuro's robotic hand, trying to remove it. His other hand was trying to punch Kuro, who caught it, and grabbed it tightly, causing Keith to gasp in pain.

Blood was dripping onto the floor, forming a puddle. His lips were parted, trying to breathe.

"You think," Kuro snarled, grabbing his fist tighter. A harsh snapping noise filled the room, followed by a scream.

" _Shiro!_ " Keith gasped, trying harder to pull his arm off of him. Kuro only held tighter onto his throat.

"I'm having a flashback?" Kuro asked, smirking while letting go of his now broken hand. His arm fell limply to his side, while the other clutched desperately at the one holding his throat. Kuro laughed at the weak attempts, and held him even harder. "Well, I am not. I am not Shiro, and luckily for you, I have orders to keep you alive."

Kuro grabbed Keith's broken hand harshly, which would have made him scream, but Keith didn't have the energy, or the breath. "That doesn't mean I can't hurt you," he answered, grinning wickedly.

Kuro waited for Keith's eyes to close, then let go of his throat, letting him drop to the floor. 

_That should do some more damage._

He picked him up, draping him over his shoulder, when he heard footsteps coming towards the training deck. He ran to where he hid Lance, moving the boxes that were in front of him.

He was still unconscious.

Kuro grabbed him, draping him over his other shoulder.

He ran out of one of the doorways, leaving a stunned Coran and Hunk in the training deck.

* * *

Alarms blared throughout the castle by the time Kuro could see the escape pods. He would've made it there faster, but having two people over his shoulders weighed him down.

At one point, Lance had waken up. It took him a few minutes to realise what was going on, and once he did, he started banging and kicking him, which, had not improved his speed.

He opened the pod, and threw himself inside before Hunk's canon shot him. The blast hit the wall beside the door. He slammed the door shut, dumping Keith and Lance on the floor of the pod. 

Keith was still unconscious, but his bleeding had stopped. The cut wasn't that big, so it wouldn't do anything fatal. He had burns all over him. One was on his side, another on his chest, and a hand print burn mark was on his neck, stopping at the back of his neck. 

When thrown on the floor, Keith's head hit the ground first, making a horrific thump throughout the pod, causing Lance to panic further.

Kuro sat in the pilot seat, starting the engines.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to get out, Lance made his way over to Keith. He wasn't going to leave him behind either way, but his injuries came first in this situation.

He leaned over Keith's motionless body, making sure he was alive. After making sure he had a heartbeat and was breathing, he ripped off the sleeve of his shirt.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Lance shouted at Kuro, who was piloting the pod to a Galran base. They were far from the castle.

Lance ripped it in half and tied it together, to form a sort of band-aid. He wrapped it around Keith's chest, asking a million questions that Kuro didn't answer. "Where are you taking us? Where the hell is Shiro? What are you going to do to us? Why isn't Keith waking up? Once more, where the hell is Shiro?"

Kuro set his target's coordinates into the pod, and put the pod on auto-pilot. "Do you ever shut up?"

Lance stopped for a moment, looking up to Kuro. He had started walking towards them, a box in his hand.

"What the hell is that?" Lance asked, going in front of Keith to keep him from further damage.

Kuro didn't answer, and continued to walk towards them.

"Get the hell away!" Lance shouted, still covering Keith's body.

Kuro grabbed Lance's shoulder and shoved him aside.

 "Get away from him!" Lance yelled, getting to his feet to attack Kuro.

He went to punch Kuro, but Kuro turned around, grabbed his wrists and placed cuffs over them. He shoved him to the ground, and knelt over Keith again.

"If you move," Kuro said, taking Lance's sleeve off of Keith, "I will electrocute you."

Despite Kuro's warning, Lance got up and tried to attack him again. Kuro pressed a button, causing Lance to fall to the floor. His body spasmed at the electricity.

"The next time you try and attack me, or even move, your friend here will be hurt further."

Kuro turned to look at him, seeing Lance give him a weak nod. His muscles were still spasming, but it wasn't as hard as before.

"Good," he breathed, turning his attention back to the limp Red Paladin.

He took Lance's sleeve off of him, and took out gauze. He wrapped it around Keith's cuts and the burn on his side.

"What are you doing?" Lance asked, his breathing still erratic.

"Fixing his injuries." Kuro said, continuing to wrap him up with caution.

"Why?"

"Stop talking." Kuro snapped.

He finished wrapping Keith up, and went back to the pilot's chair.

"You can move towards him. If you make a move on me, I will kill him."

Lance listened to Kuro, moving towards Keith.

"Keith," Lance whispered, patting his cheek gently.

Keith groaned in response.

"Oh, god, okay." Lance sighed of relief. "Keith, come on, buddy."

Keith wouldn't wake up, and the only thing he could think of that would wake him up was to slap him.

Nope. Not happening.

"Keith," he said, voice getting slightly louder. "come on, buddy. Wake up."

Keith groaned again, trying to open his eyes.

"That's it, Keith." He whispered encouragingly, trying to get him to wake up.

Keith's eyes fluttered open. "L-lance?" he asked in a raspy voice. "Where are we?"

Lance sighed and looked towards Kuro. "Kuro took us."

"Who's Kuro?" Keith asked, trying to sit up, wincing as he did so.

"The guy impersonating Shiro."

"Oh."

Kuro got up from his seat, and walked towards where Lance and Keith were.

Lance eyed him cautiously, while Keith was still trying to see straight.

Kuro grabbed Keith by the shoulders and pulled him up.

Keith winced from the pain. Kuro grabbed another pair of cuffs and slammed them over his wrists.

Keith had to bite his tounge to keep himself from crying out.

Lance saw he was struggling against screaming.

Kuro removed his hand from Keith's shoulder, and dragged Lance to his feet.

Kuro kept a firm hand on Lance's shoulder, while grabbing Keith before he fell.

"What are you-" Lance started to ask.

The doors to the pod opened, revealing a dark purple room. There was a throne, at least seven feet away. 

"Ah, my loyal subject!" A voice boomed from the throne.

Kuro pushed them forward. "Prince Lotor," he grimaced.   

Keith was close enough to talk to Lance. "What's going on?" he whispered.

"I don't know."

"I see you have brought me the Red and Blue Paladin!" Lotor said, getting up from his throne.

Kuro shoved them onto their knees, then bowed himself.

"No need, Kuro." Lotor waved his hand. "You are dismissed."

Kuro got up, nodded, and left.

"You must have questions!"

Keith glared at Lotor.

"Now, now," he said, walking to Keith. He was a few inches in front of him. Keith refused to look at him. "there'll be none of that."

Noticing Keith was staring at the floor, the prince dug his claws into Keith's chin, forcing him to look up. Blood dropped from wear the skin broke. "Look. At. Me."

When Keith's head was finally forced up, he saw the Prince.

He had long, white hair, and yellow eyes. Pointed ears were visible behind the white hair, and the altean markings were under his eyes, on top of light, purple skin.

"There we go." he said. "I am Prince Lotor, son of Lord Zarkon. I am part-Galran and part-Altean."

"Get your claws out of his skin!" Lance shouted, finally fed up.

"These claws?" he asked. When he didn't receive an answer, and got a glare, he continued. "No, really, I'm okay." he dug his claws deeper into his chin. Keith winced from it, and Lotor smiled at the reaction.

"Besides, the only reason you are here," Lotor said, tearing his claws out of his chin, causing Keith to cry out. "is too keep him here." He said, pointing to Lance with bloody claws.

He turned towards Lance. "If you try to escape, your fellow Paladin will. die."

Lance swallowed thickly. He looked at Lotor, who was smiling at him.

"Sendak," he called out, turning his head.

"What?" Keith said. His chin was still aching from Lotor's claws. "Sendak is dead!"

"You," Lotor hissed, turning back to face him. He walked yo where Keith was kneeling, and grabbed his face. "Stop. Talking."

"You-"

"Stop." Lotor snarled, pulling his face towards his. Keith's face started bleeding. "Talking."

Sendak appeared from a door to their right. "Yes, sire?" he asked.

His robotic arm was bigger than it was before.

"Take them to their quarters," He said, pulling his hand from Keith's face.

"Yes, Prince Lotor."

"Make sure the Blue Paladins cuffs come off. Leave the Red Paladins ones on."

Sendak nodded, forcing them to their feet.

Keith practically growled at Sendak.

"If the Red Paladin causes you any trouble," he said, sitting back in his throne, "you have permission to hurt him."

"Yes, sire."

He forced Keith and Lance to the doorway, keeping the cuffs on Keith.

"Oh, Sendak," Lotor called.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Bring the Black Paladin to the chamber as well."

"Yes, my lord. _Vrepit sa."_

Sendak forced them out of the room, claws digging painfully into Keith's back.

On the bright side, they were finally going to find Shiro.

Unfortunately, he was in the same predicament as they were.

Sendak had finally managed to press hard enough, causing Keith to slowly pass out.

"Shir-" Lances voice faded away, as everything surrounding him turned to darkness.


	5. Oh. Wait. Yes, he is back.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance had always looked at the bright sides of things when shit was going terribly wrong.  
> Well, that was before someone had threatened Keith's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just realized i keep hitting enter when i finish a sentence. sorry. its a habit of mine that i'll try to break.

"Pathetic," Sendak growled, watching Keith's body fall to the floor. His head landed with a sickening crack.

Lance had tried to move and catch Keith, but Sendak hadn't removed his hand from his back. He looked up again, coming eye to eye with a familiar figure in black armour. "Shiro?"

Shiro looked at Lance with concern. Annoyed, and losing patience, with the transaction between the Blue and Black Paladin, Sendak forced Shiro in front of him, and jabbed him with the hilt of his sword to get him to walk.

Sendak grabbed Keith's ankle, and started walking as well, dragging an unconscious Keith on the ground. 

"Lotor said not to hurt him! You can't just drag him like that!" Lance protested, trying to get out of his grip.

"You will refer to Prince Lotor as Prince, and nothing else." Sendak snarled, pushing Lance harder. "and, Prince Lotor said not to hurt you."

The rest of the walk was in silence, Sendak forcing Lance and Shiro to walk, while still dragging Keith.

Sendak finally stopped Shiro at a door way, letting go of Keith's ankle. He placed his hand on the pad, and the door opened. "In."

When Lance and Shiro didn't obey, he forced them in. He grabbed Keith and threw him in as well, just before the door closed.

Keith rolled on the floor a few times, just before Shiro managed to catch him to prevent further damage.

Lance knelt down beside Shiro and Keith, staring at Shiro. He mostly looked the same, but blood coated his chest. "What happened?"

Shiro sighed and held Keith tighter. "Haggar and her servants."

"Oh." Lance whispered, turning his attention back to Keith.

Shiro was silent for a little bit longer, looking at Keith.

"Did the impersonator get to you guys? Kuro, I think?" He asked, finally looking up from Keith.

"Yea," Lance sighed. "Kicked our asses, too." Lance said, motioning to the burns and cuts on Keith.

Shiro looked down at Keith. "He did this?"

Lance nodded. "Tried to kill me and Allura, too."

Shiro bit his bottom lip. "I'm sorry. I should've been able to stop them from creating Kuro-"

Lance placed a hand on Shiro's shoulder. "Dude, it's fine. You were a prisoner of Haggar's, and you were obviously forced into this whole mess. None of it is your fault, so don't do that ' _Oh, woe is me_ ' bullshit."

Shiro laughed shakily. "You didn't use that phrase right."

"I don't give a shit. You get my point," he huffed out, taking his hand off of Shiro's shoulder.

"Lance," Shiro said, pulling Keith into his lap. "Can you tell me what happened? While I was gone?"

Lance nodded. "Yea, sure." he said, getting into a more comfortable position.

* * *

 

A day had passed since Keith and Lance were taken. Allura was still in a pod, finally healing.

Hunk walked into the control room, bringing two plates of goo.

"I know you're still searching for them, but you need to take a break," Hunk said, seeing Pidge still slumped in her chair typing on her computer. Coran was still at the front of the ship, scrolling through solar systems.

He placed a plate of food and the control panel, and one on Pidge's armrest. He leaned on her chair.

"You saw how Kuro had yellow eyes, right?" Hunk asked, getting a new thought on where they could be.

Coran turned around, taking a slight break from searching. "Yes, I did Hunk."

At the same time, Pidge piped up. "What are you getting at?"

Hunk crossed his arms, still leaning on her chair. "What if Haggar created him?"

Pidge looked up at him, thinking what he was thinking. "And she wanted us dead! So he must've returned to Haggar with Keith and Lance to- HUNK YOU'RE A GENIUS!" she exclaimed, turning to her computer again.

Coran smiled, then looked at his ticker. "Oh! Allura will be out soon!" He said, turning to leave. "When she's awake and has eaten, I will inform her of what's happened then bring her here. Hopefully you'll have found them by then, Pidge!"

With that, he left the room.

Things were going to be okay.

* * *

Keith woke up, a painful throbbing in his head. He was vaguely aware of something warm and soft under him, but firm all the same. He hadn't regained the energy to open his eyes yet, so he laid there, not moving.

"...e totally had a freaking bonding moment, but Mullet won't even remember it because of the shit we went through when Kuro-" Lance cut off, noticing the groan that slipped from Keith's mouth.

"Is he okay?" he asked someone, presumably the person Keith was laying on. "Is he awake?"

The person pressed a hand over his forehead. "I'm not sure." The person sounded oddly like Shiro...

Keith passed out again, unable to stay awake.

* * *

 

Lance watched Keith for any type of movement, before turning his attention back to Shiro.

As soon as Lance looked up, Keith started convulsing. 

"What's going on?!" Lance nearly shouted, scooting closer to Keith.

Shiro's hands hovered over Keith, unsure of what to do. "I don't know!" Shiro's eyes widened in realisation. "I think he's having a seizure! Did he hit his head?!"

Lance looked at Shiro, face laced with panic. "Like, 4 times!" 

Shiro had started to panic as well. "He could stop breathing!" Shiro removed Keith from his lap, turning him on his side.

Lance and Shiro watched, waiting for Keith's seizure to stop.

After what felt like hours, Keith's movements stopped altogether.

"Is-is he breathing?" Lance asked, afraid to touch and hurt Keith.

Shiro placed his fingers under his nose, then nodded.

Lance finally let his breath out. He hadn't realised he'd been holding it.

Shiro gently pulled Keith back into his lap, afraid to hurt Keith. Once he was pulled into Shiro's lap, Keith's eyes fluttered open.

He looked around wildly, not noticing he was in Shiro's lap.  "Keith, Keith, you're fine." Shiro whispered, trying to calm the young boy. 

When Keith heard Shiro's voice, he flinched and shoved himself from Shiro, falling onto Lance. Keith looked up, noticing he had fallen onto someone.

"Lance," he said with a raspy voice. "Lance, what's going on? Why is Kuro here?" Keith subconsciously rubbed at his still aching neck.

Shiro sat where he was, as if glued to the spot. His eyes were wide, and he was unable to speak.

"Keith, it's okay. He's not Kuro-"

"That's what we thought last time!" Keith screamed, instantly regretting it. He pushed himself off of Lance, and doubled over, clutching his neck. It was burning from the scream. Keith didn't completely remember what Kuro had done to him, but his side was burning as well. He removed one hand from his neck, placing it over where it burned. "Why-why is my side burning?" he asked, voice incredibly low. He didn't want to damage his throat further.

"Keith, buddy, you've got to calm down," Shiro finally said, recovering from his shock. Lance was behind Keith, rubbing circles into his back.

Keith removed his hand from his side, expecting to see blood, or something. He knew there was gauze or something on the cut, but it felt wet. To his 'shock', when he saw his hand, there was blood on it. "You're not Shiro!" Keith yelled, once more, regretting it. His throat was  _burning._

"Keith, it's Shiro-" Lance tried to say. Keith cut him off before he could finish.

"No it's not!" He really should stop screaming.

Shiro moved closer to Keith, flinching when he gently grabbed his chin, forcing it to face him. He had avoided where Lotor had dug his claws in his skin.

"Keith," Shiro said, finally getting Keith to look at him.  "Keith, it's me. I'm Shiro." He couldn't think of what to say that would get Keith to believe him. He knew Lance believed Shiro without a doubt, but Keith would be harder to convince.

Keith scowled at him, not speaking. He feared if he spoke anything else, his throat would explode. Hopefully, this thing understood what he wanted to say.  _No, you're not. Stop trying to make me believe these stupid lies._

Shiro moved his hand a little more, accidentally hitting the claw marks. Keith's scowl quickly faded while he winced. Shiro instantly removed his hand. "Sorry, I'm sorr-"

"Stop touching me," Keith choked out, turning his body to face Lance. "Why do you believe him? Kuro has all of the memories Shiro would!" Keith practically whispered, unable to make his voice go higher.

"I-I just do, Keith." Lance said. He couldn't explain it. He just believed it was Shiro. He knew it was Shiro.

"Th-" Keith was cut off by Lotor's voice. It came from a type of P.A system. A visual of Lotor and Kuro were shown on a wall opposite of them.

"As you can see," Lotor said, motioning to Kuro, "That is your weak Black Paladin, Shiro. I would've let you keep arguing, getting hurt and letting your trust get broken, but I have different, and more important matters at hand. Blue Paladin, you are to come through the door which I shall unlock, and come to my throne room. Guards will let you know which ways to turn. You will not let the others come with you, you will not try for escape, you will come directly here. Understood?"

Lance didn't answer, thinking Lotor couldn't see or hear him.

"Lance, I asked you a question."

Lance once more ignored Lotor, holding Keith tighter.

"Oh, you haven't realized. I can see and hear you. The door is unlocked."

Lance stayed where he was. "No," he said.

"Are you denying me?"

"I am not going." Lance said, pulling Keith closer.

"Fine." Lotor sighed. "I didn't want it to come to this. You could have prevented this." Lotor motioned at Kuro to leave the room. Kuro disappeared from the screen.

Lotor sat there for a few minutes, waiting for something to happen. Shiro was hovering over Lance and Keith protectively , while Lance held Keith.

The door to the room opened with a bang, and Kuro walked in. Shiro instantly shot up, getting into a fighting stance. Keith did the same. Lance stood up, staring at the screen.

"What are you doing?" He asked/shouted.

"I warned you," Lotor said, before closing the visual.

Kuro walked towards Shiro, Keith and Lance, not removing his eyes from Keith. Shiro moved in front of his line of vision, blocking his sight of Keith.

Kuro flicked his wrist, throwing something at Shiro, that Shiro didn't have time to dodge. It locked around Shiro's wrists, dragging him to the ground. Once the type of cuffs hit the ground, they stayed there. Shiro couldn't get them out of the position.

Keith felt fear race inside of him, but he shoved it in the mental box of stuff he didn't want to deal with or feel. 

Lance was about to move to help Keith, but bar blocked his path. He turned around to go that way, only to see he was trapped in a circle of bars.

_If you try to escape, your fellow Paladin will. die._

A sick realization hit Lance in the face. Lotor had meant if Lance had done anything that wasn't to his liking, Keith would be hurt.

"No!" Lance screamed, banging against the bars. Kuro stopped in front of Keith, not doing anything. Keith stared at him, unknowing of what would happen. Kuro moved like lightning, placing a band over Keith's raised wrists. It locked around his wrists, making his fists fall in front of him. Kuro grabbed Keith's arm and forced him to walk. By the time they reached the door to the room, Kuro was practically dragging Keith. "No!" Lance screamed again. "Lotor, let him go!"

No response.

Shiro was still tugging desperately at his locks, while Lance was trying to rip the bar from its place. He placed both of his feet on the bar, with his hands above them, and pulled as hard as he could. The second after he got into position, the door closed, and Shiro was released. The bars surrounding Lance slid back into the ceiling at an astonishing speed, forcing Lance to fall onto his back. Shiro ran to the room's door, and shoved himself against it, trying to break it. He continued to do so until the visual came back up. 

"Ah, ah, ah," Lotor said, wagging his finger at them. "The more you try to help him, the more he gets hurt!" The visual cut off again. Lance was already on his feet, dragging Shiro from the door. Once they were far enough from the door, Lance let go of Shiro. 

"What's he talking about?" Shiro asked, out of breath.

"When we got here, Lotor said something like ' _If you try to escape, Keith will die_ ', and I thought he meant just escaping. Turns out he meant if I dis-obey him." Lance explained, choking back sobs. "It's my fault he's with Kuro again."

Shiro pulled him into a hug. "No, it's not. It's Lotor's fault."

Shiro let go, and stood there, looking at Lance. "It's not your fault," he said, turning once a visual was turned on.

Lance sighed. "What is-" Lance shut his mouth when he turned to look at the wall.

It showed a struggling Keith, bound to a wall. On the floor, a layer of water was forming.

* * *

 

The door shut behind them, leaving Keith alone with Kuro.

"Let go of me," Keith snarled, trying to force himself from Kuro's grip.

Kuro didn't reply, only tugged harder. Keith tried shoving his heels into the ground.

Kuro sighed and wrapped his hand harshly around Keith's waist, holding him in front of him, off of the ground. Keith struggled in his grip, only to get punched in the shoulder.

They walked in silence towards a room that had chains attached to the wall.

Kuro walked towards the chains, and placed the cuffs around Keith's wrists.

"What are you doing?" Keith hissed, pulling at the chains, trying to reach Kuro. The chains only went so far.

Kuro laughed as he left the room, slamming and locking the door.

A few minutes had passed and nothing happened.

Another minute passed and a visual appeared.

"Lotor," he snarled, baring his teeth.

"Ah, yes, hello Red Paladin. You are here due to your friend's incompetence to obey me. Enjoy the water."

"What water?" Keith said, his throat beginning to ache.

The visual shut off without an answer. Just a second later, water began streaming from the roof of the room.

Keith tugged at the chains. He tried to scream a million curses at Lotor, but his throat wouldn't allow any noises to come out. The water had begun to rise faster, already reaching his ankles. He tugged viciously at the chains.

A new visual appeared, on the wall opposite of him. This one showed Lance and Shiro, staring at him, then the water in horror.

* * *

 

"Lotor!" Lance screamed, banging against the door. "Unlock it! I'll come to you!"

Shiro's fist were clenched, and his robotic one was glowing purple.

No visual appeared this time, but Lotor's voice was heard of over the P.A system. "I am sorry, Lance, but you failed to follow my orders. Your friend will suffer for this choice."

The water had already reached Keith's waist. It was rising faster than it was before.

"Lotor! Let him out of there! I'll come see you!" Lance begged. He wasn't about to let Keith die. Shiro came towards the door and started punching it, trying to open it.

The P.A system emitted Lotor's voice, once more. "Will you, now?"

"Yes!" Lance screamed. He'd do anything to keep Keith alive. 

"Are you sure?" Lotor asked, stopping the water just as it reached Keith's chin.

"Yes, I'll come! Let him go!"

Shiro was still shoving himself against the doorway. Keith's head was just above the water, and he had to lift his head up to breathe.

"Hmm. Well, I don't believe you." Lotor said, letting the water start up again.

"No!" Shiro and Lance screamed, simultaneously.

Keith was trying to keep his head above the water, clearly gathering air, but soon enough, the water had covered his nose and mouth. Keith's eyes widened in fear.

The water had completely covered Keith now.

"Lotor! I swear! I'll come to you!" Lance screamed.

Lance looked back at the screen. Keith was still struggling in the chains, but his moves were becoming sluggish.

"Lotor!"

The door made a clicking noise, then slid open.

"The water will stop as soon as you reach me, and stay until I say so." Lotor said over the P.A.

Lance ran out of the room, turning whenever he saw a guard. As soon as he left, the door slammed shut, locking itself. There was a visual of Keith in every hallway Lance turned. Keith had gone in limp, his head floating in the water. His eyes were still open slightly, but they were bound to close in the next few seconds.

Lance finally made it into the throne room where Lotor was waiting. Lance watched at the visual that was in front of Lotor, waiting for the water to leave the room.

"Fine, I suppose your friend may live." Lotor sighed, making it so the water drained from the room.

Keith had already passed out.

Once the water completely left the room, Kuro had walked in to collect Keith. Lotor shut off the visual.

"Now, we have important matters to talk about," Lotor said, getting up from the throne, walking towards Lance.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alls well that ends well...  
> oh wait.  
> no, i dont think this will end well.  
> haha.  
> any typos you see, do let me know  
> and, just by the way, keith will have PTSD by the end of this.  
> this is a warning for any mental triggers that could go off for you guys. it'll happen in the next few chapters.


	6. Bonding with boxes.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, turns out, bonding with a box is not the best thing in the world.  
> It could cause Claustrophobia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just a slight warning. for those of you who are claustrophobic and don't like reading about someone being claustrophobic/being locked in a box,I suggest you skip these parts;  
> "The room was box shaped," to "cutting off Keith's air."  
> and  
> "It was a very small box," to "leaving a hole in the box"  
> its not too important what happened there, so ill explain it at the end, with less describiness.  
> and thats all.  
> enjoy this chapter :)

* * *

"What's wrong with Red?" Hunk shouted, trying to hold it down.

"I don't know!" Pidge screamed, slamming her lion on top of Red.

Alluras voice piped up from the comms. "Keith could be in trouble, but we haven't finished preparing, nor have we found him. If we let the Red Lion find him, it could be captured by the Galra."

"But if we don't let him go, we'll have to hold him down the whole time, not getting anywhere with our search!" Hunk shouted over the noise.

"Don't worry, my boy! Coran will handle this one!" Coran said enthusiastically. "It should only take a few dobashes, so try to keep the Red Lion in the hangar until then!"

"If you say so," Pidge sighed, still sitting on Keith's Lion.

* * *

Keith had tried to keep oxegyn inside of him when the water had went over his head, but he failed terribly.

He finally needed to breathe, but Keith refused to let his mouth and nose let air in.

He was able to hold out for a few more seconds, before his nose decided to breathe in.

Dark spots started to cover his vision when he couldn't get any more oxygen.

Keith was slowly slipping into unconsciousness.

Using the last of his energy, he did something he knew he would regret.

He was certain that Lance and Shiro wouldn't see it, being too scared or worried to notice it, but he knew Lotor would see it, and Keith hoped it was a universal symbol. 

Keith stuck up the finger before he passed out.

* * *

 

Kuro had came into the doorway, dropping Keith like a sack of potatoes.

The cuff around Shiro's wrist had been disabled completely, allowing movement on his part. He had nearly caught Kuro before the door shut and locked. 

Seeing Kuro leave, Shiro turned his attention to Keith. He had watched the entire thing. He was pretty sure Keith thought he didn't, but he saw Keith give Lotor the finger, knowing he'd be watching.

He wasn't sure what Lance had done to get Lotor to drain the room, but the water left the room a few seconds after Lance had left.

Shiro knelt over Keith's body, placing his fingers under his jawline, checking for a pulse.

Nothing.

His body was too cold, still soaked with water.

Shiro placed his hands over Keith's chest, performing CPR.

"Come on, Keith.." he muttered to himself, over and over.

Finally, Keith started to cough up water. 

"Oh thank God," Shiro sighedl, turning Keith onto his side. 

After a few minutes of Keith coughing, his body fell limp again. His breathing was ragged, but he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

Shiro pulled Keith into his lap, disturbed by the way his head lolled whenever Shiro moved him.

Shiro dragged them to a wall, ana's leaned against it. 

Shiro fell asleep holding Keith against himself. 

* * *

"What do you want?" Lance snapped, glaring at Lotor.

"Now, now. Do you want that to happen to Keith again?" Lotor asked, smirking at the shocked face he got in return. "Then you should treat me with respect."

"Now," Lotor said, walking closer to Lance. "I wanted to ask something of you."

"What?" Lance snapped.

"This is your final warning. Understand?"

"I understand," Lance sighed.

"Good," Lotor said, wrapping an arm around Lance's waist.

"What are you-" Lance was cut off by the sudden pair of lips against his.

Lance refused to open his mouth, trying to push away from Lotor.

After about a minute, Lotor pushed away, upset by Lance's reaction. "You would like to stay with your friends, yes?"

Lance nodded, backing up a tad.

"Then you will do as I ask."

Lance nodded, slower this time. "What do you want me to do?"

"Become my Prince." Lotor said, grinning.

* * *

Keith woke up, once more, with something warm and soft under him.

He couldn't figure out who was under him, but he knew they were concerned.

Keith had almost died.

Opening his eyes, he pushed himself into a sitting position.

Apparently, that person was the only thing keeping Keith warm. The moment he left him, he was freezing again. 

Keith bent into himself, wrapping his arms around his stomach.

His throat, fist and side were aching, but he was more focused on keeping himself warm.

Keith turned his head, expecting to see Shiro and Lance huddled together.

Shiro was leaning against the wall, his eyes starting to open. Lance was no where to be seen. 

Keith ducked his head into his knees, feeling colder than before.

* * *

 

Being partially awake, Shiro noticed Keith wasn't on him anymore.

After opening his eyes, he saw Keith huddled into himself, a few feet in front of him.

Shiro went over to Keith, draping an arm around him, pulling him close.

Physical contact usually kept people warm. Shiro hoped it would work.

Keith flinched at the touch, but allowed himself to be pulled into a hug.

Keith hadn't stopped shivering, but Shiro could feel him getting warmer.

"Better?" Shiro asked, rubbing his human hand along Keith's back.

Keith gave a weak nod before looking up from Shiros shoulder. "Where's Lance?" 

It sounded like saying a short sentence like that hurt him. "I don't know. He went to Lotor a few hours ago and didn't come back."

Keith formed an 'oh' sound before returning to Shiro's shoulder. 

Shiro sat with Keith a few minutes longer, warming the younger boy, before the door opened with a bang.

Shiro instinctively pulled Keith closer, holding on to him tighter.

He heard muffled protests from Keith, but he didn't care. He turned on his Galran hand, prepared to fight. 

Two Galran sentries had entered, Sendak behind them.

Shiro stood, putting himself in front of Keith, who was trying to stand, but couldn't.

The Galran sentries parted, making space for Sendak to throw Lance into the room.

"What did you do to him?" Shiro hissed, moving closer to the motionless boy.

Sendak ignored him, walking into the room. He pushed Shiro out of the way with brute force, making his way towards Keith.

Shiro slammed into the wall, unable to stop Sendak from grabbing Keith.

Keith winced when Sendak picked him up. He struggled in Sendak's grasp, but he was still to weak and sore to actually fight someone.

Sendak left the room, Keith in his arms, the Galran sentries following him.

The door shut and locked itself. 

Shiro pushed himself up, forcing down a groan, and went to where Lance was still lying on the ground, unconscious.

There was a burn mark on his chest, but that seemed to be it.

Knowing Lotor would be watching, Shiro followed Keith's path. 

Before turning back to Lance, he, also, gave Lotor the finger, hoping it was a universal transaction.

* * *

"What?" Lance asked, confused by the question.

Lotor sighed, tapping his chin. "How do I explain this..." he sighed.

"Explain what?"

"Okay. So, when two Galras, or in this case, one Galra, loves someone very much, they-"

Lance figured out where Lotor was going, and backed up further. "Nope, no, definitely not happening!"

"Oh, but you see, you hardly have a choice in the matter. You can be my prince willingly, or forcefully. And, if neither works, I will return you to rot with your friend." Lotor said, smirking.

"I'll take the third option," Lance said, not going to marry Lotor.

"As you wish," Lotor said, staring down at him. "Sendak," Lotor called, turning to him. "Take him back to his quarters. You have full permission to hurt him, if he behaves in the wrong way."

Lotor turned and winked at Lance, before Sendak dragged Lance out of the room.

When they left the room, Lance tugged his arm out of Sendak's grip. "I can walk fine on my own," Lance huffed out, crossing his arms.

Lance walked with Sendak in silence for the rest of the time.

About halfway through the walk, Lance saw a flash of blue. 

He looked in that direction, thinking his eyes had tricked him, but they hadn't.

He saw his helmet lying on a table.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Coran asked, watching Allura from the observation deck.

They were in the training room, trying to teleport Lance's helmet to where he would be. "Yes!" Allura exclaimed, holding Lance's helmet. "I think I've figured it out!"

"Okay," Coran said, breathing in heavily. "Teleport it."

Hunk and Pidge were beside him, watching with wide eyes as magic sparkled from Allura's fingers.

A tick later, and the helmet had left her grasp, vanishing into thin air. "I think it worked!" She yelled, grinning wildly.

Pidge pulled out her computer, trying to track where it would have gone. "It worked!" Pidge shouted, shoving her helmet on her head. "Lance," she said into a recording. "Keith, we're on our way. Try not to be killed."

With that, she turned off the recording, making it play on a loop. They were too far away from eachother to actually communicate, so she hoped the recording would work.

* * *

Lance stopped for a minute, letting Sendak get a little bit further ahead.

He dashed across the room to where the helmet was, picking it up, and taking off down that hallway. He shoved it on his head, breathing loudly. "Pidge? Hunk? Coran? Anybody?" He asked desperately.

"... _ance, Keith, we're on our w... not... killed..._ "

That phrase kept repeating through the comms. If they sent a recording on loop, it meant they were to far away to actually communicate with him.

Lance turned his head, and to his ultimate surprise, he saw Sendak a few feet from him.

"Dammit!" he hissed, turning a corner.

He ran straight into two drones, knocking them both down. 

Sendak caught up to Lance, who was trying to get the robots off of him, and grabbed him by the neck, raising him in the air. 

"I'm glad you did that." Sendak said, throwing him over his shoulder.

Sendak walked into a room, that was most likely used for torture. Weapons lined the walls, and a single chair with straps was in the centre.

"Let's have some fun," Sendak snarled, locking Lance into place. 

* * *

 

 The moment Keith was dragged away by Sendak, things went to hell. 

Sendak had thrown him onto the ground, head first, trying to make him pass out. Keith was extremely dazed, and everything was spinning, but he hadn't been knocked out. His head, of course, hurt like a bitch, but Sendak didn't get what he wanted. He motioned for the sentries to drag him by his arms behind him. 

They turned several corners before Keith could see straight again. By then, it was to late to stop anything from happening. They had already reached their destination.

Sendak waited for the sentries to fully enter the room with Keith before locking the door.

The room was box shaped, with 4 purple walls, and 1 light coming from the ceiling. In the center of the room, there was a large metallic box, that could most likely fit two little boys.

Sendax opened the boxes lid before turning back to Keith. He took Keith violently from the robots, their grip tearing off of him. He dropped him in the box, trying to close the lid, but he didn't completely fit.

"Fine," Sendak groaned. He grabbed Keith again, pulling him to his feet. He bent one arm behind his back, and his other arm was pushed against his side. Sendak forced him to sit back in the box, on top of one bent leg. This time, when he tried to close the lid, he succeeded, leaving Keith alone in a box, that could definitely not fit two little boys.

Keith heard a clicking noise just above him. He figured Sendak had locked the box shut. He listened as their footsteps left the room, before he noticed a sharp pain erupted into his side. Keith's elbow was digging into his burn, causing Keith to cry out.

Being a non-claustrophobic kid, the only thing that was bothering Keith was the pain coming from his side. But, over time, it felt as if the walls of the box were slowly closing him in, making him hyperventilate.

Keith managed to sit there a little longer, dealing with the pain that was surging through his abdomen, before he started to scream. The box seemed as if it was growing smaller, cutting off Keith's air.

It only took a few more minutes for Keith to pass out from fear and lack of oxygen.

* * *

 It took Lance at least an hour before he woke up, screaming when Shiro touched him.

"Lance! Lance, calm down! It's me! It's Shiro!" Shiro yelled, trying to calm Lance.

It took Lance a few more minutes of sobbing into Shiro's shirt before he had fully calmed down. "Shiro," he sniffled, looking up from his shirt. 

Shiro looked at Lance. His eyes were shining from the water, but the tears had stopped. "What is it?" Shiro asked, voice filled with concern.

"I don't-" Lance choked down a sob, remembering what Sendak had said. "I don't think we're getting Keith back."

Shiro froze in his spot. "What- what do you mean?"

Lance forced down another sob as he began to explain what happened. "Lotor gave me three options- One was to marry him willingly, the second was to marry him forcefully, or to rot in here with you guys, so I took the third option. Sendak was bringing me back here, and I saw my helmet, so I made a dash for it, and there was a recording on it. It was Pidge saying something, that I couldn't fully understand because of the static, but she said ' _Lance, Keith... we're on our way not killed_ '. That's all I could make out. Sendak caught me though, and after he-" Lance's voice cracked, and he finished the rest of his little story hiding his face in Shiro's shirt. "he did stuff to me, he said Keith would pay-pay for what I did, and, and if he dies, then it will be my-"

Shiro held Lance tighter, wrapping his arms around his lower back. "It's okay, Lance. It's not your fault," Shiro murmured into Lance's ears, over and over. 

Finally, Lance calmed down, pushing himself from Shiro, standing up. "We have to find him, or something-"

"Lance," Shiro said with a firm voice, standing up. "We can't do anything right now. We've already tried breaking down the door, and we can't fit through the vents."

Lance stood where he was for a few minutes, before his legs decided to give out on him. He fell to the floor, only his head being caught by Shiro's hands.

"You've gotta rest, Lance." Shiro said, pulling him to the wall to lean on. Once they were both settled against the wall, Shiro started asking questions. "What did Sendak do to you? If you don't want to say, it's fine, but-"

"No," Lance said, interrupting him. "It's fine. It's just, kind of a blur, I guess. I don't remember all of it. He probably broke a few ribs, at least. And there was this weird electricity thing that hit my chest... But, that's all I can actually remember."

Shiro scowled when he explained what happened. Sendak was going to die when he got out of here.

They sat there for a few minutes, staring at the wall in front of them.

"Lotor won't kill Keith," Shiro finally said.

"What? Why wouldn't he?" Lance said, thinking he was already dead.

"If he wants you to cooperate, then he'll need Keith as leverage."

"But, you're here too-"

"They need me to keep Kuro alive. They can't kill any of us, and I'm near certain Lotor wants you alive."

Lance snorted. "Yea. Who else is he gonna marry? Haggar?"

Shiro let out a shaky laugh. "Isn't Haggar his mom?"

Lance spat out his tongue at that. "Ew! Haggar would do it with Zar-" 

Lance was cut off by Keith's scream.

A distant and muffled "Let me out of here!" was heard by both Lance and Shiro.

Keith's screamed continued for at least 2 minutes before it stopped. No more noises were heard.

Once the screams stopped, Lance and Shiro were both on their feet, Shiro supporting Lance.

"Lotor!" Lance screamed. "Let him out of there!" 

Lance had no idea what was happening to Keith, but his screams sounded terrified and pained, as if it hurt him to speak, which it probably did. Kuro had left a hand print scar on his neck.

The P.A system came on at the same time a visual of Keith was shown.

"You've made your choice, Lance." Lotor hissed, before turning the system off again.

In the visual, it showed a room with a single box in the middle.

"What is that?" Lance asked, thinking Shiro might have an answer.

"I don't know. They never used a box when I-" Shiro stopped when the visual showed what was inside of the box.

It was a very small box on the inside and outside. Keith's leg was bent in an unnatural way to make him fit, while his left arm was nowhere in sight. His right arm was by his side, squished by the side of the box and his side. His elbow was coated with blood, and the floor of the box had a small puddle of blood. Keith's blood. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was erratic.

"Did they shove him in a box?!" Lance screamed, unable to comprehend what was going on.

"I think so- but, how is he bleeding? Did they cut him?" Shiro asked, scowling at the visual.

Lance looked at the visual to where Shiro was scowling. "I-I don't think so. He had a burn on his side, and it looks like his elbow is digging into it."

Lance took in a shaky breath. "Lotor!" he screamed again. "Let him out of there!"

Keith's face was taking on a slight tinge of blue. "He doesn't have enough air!" Lance screamed.

Suddenly, a knife was stabbed into the box, grazing Keith's skin. Keith hissed in pain, but didn't wake up. The knife was removed, leaving a hole in the box.

"There," Lotor said, over the system. "he can breathe now. Keith will be returned to you in a few hours."

And with that, the visual and P.A cut off.

Lance's knees buckled, and he fell, once more, into Shiro's arms. 

This time, though, Lance passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so, for those of you who didn't read it, this is basically what happened.  
> Keith was locked in a box that was much to small for him, and was left there for few hours. One of his legs are now broken, and a burn wound was re-opened, and now its bleeding. someone stabbed a hole in the box so keith could breathe, and it grazed his skin.  
> the main point of that was to get shiro and lance pissed off at lotor.  
> so yea. hope you enjoyed that chapter.  
> comment below if you see any typos, or have feedback or whatever  
> daily updates, by the way. not a lot of long waits :).


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i couldn't come up with a title name, or a summary without quoting what i wrote so yea. enjoy.  
> and i apologize for adding the Lance/Lotor tag around chapter 3. if you didn't want that, and it wasnt there when you started reading, i apologize. *throws @wazzat under the bus lmao*

A few hours after Red calmed down, he started freaking out. Again.

"This is the third time today he's flipped out!" Pidge shouted, shutting all of the doors in his hangar. They realized locking the hangar doors was a better solution then trying to hold the Red Lion down.

"Have you found their location yet?" Hunk asked, barely audiable over the noise Red was making.

"No! The signal we got from Lance's helmet stopped working!" Coran said, pressing furiously at buttons on the control board.

Pidge looked up from her computer, successfully closing all of the doors. "Could you try teleporting another helmet? Or Lance's helmet back here?"

"I'd have to know where Keith and Lance are. Even so, I don't know if I could. I can try getting Lance's back." Allura said, moving from her spot beside Coran. "If you need me, I'll be on the training deck." 

When Allura left, Hunk started talking again. "I know she'd be completely against this, but I can't think of anything else, because this helmet thing isn't working."

Coran and Pidge turned their heads to look at him. "What's your idea?" Pidge asked, desperate to get her friends back.

Hunk stood up from his chair. "What if we just let the Red Lion go after them? He would know where they are, and Keith is clearly in trouble-"

"I mean, it's worth a shot, but Allura would be against it, like you said." Pidge said, cutting off Hunk. She turned back to her computer, a defeated expression on her face.

"I'll see if I can convince Allura." Coran said. "She may be alright with the idea."

"Really?" Pidge asked, a grin slowly making its way to her face.

"Yes. After all, two of her paladins are in the hands of Zarkon."

"I thought we beat Zarkon!" Hunk said. "So, we didn't beat Zarkon? And now he has Keith and Lance for-"

"I'm afraid so, my boy. Someone's running the empire, and I am unsure of who it could be." Coran sighed, making his way out of the control room. "I will go try and convince Allura. Please don't let Red out until I say you can. She'll be able to sense it." 

Coran left the room without another word.

* * *

Lance wasn't sure how long it took, but it was too long. 

By the time they brought Keith back, Lance's wound was beginning to heal.

When hearing the click of the lock, Shiro and Lance stood up immediately, running towards the door. 

The door didn't open right away, leaving Lance and Shiro trying to open it. Someone's hand was holding it closed.

Shiro backed up, about to ram it open, when bars encircled both of them.

"Do you want the Red Paladin back?" Lotor hissed. "Then I suggest you stop trying to fight anyone who comes in.

Lance watched and waited, impatiently, as Sendak dumped Keith's body on the floor. 

He hit his back first, and a small whimper escaped his mouth. Fortunately, and unfortunately, Keith was still unconscious.

Once Sendak left, Lance and Shiro were free to move to Keith's side.

 Lance had gotten there first, seeing as he was a foot from Keith. 

"We should be waking him up, right?" Lance asked, kneeling beside Keith's unmoving form.

Shiro, sat beside Keith, pulling his arm armour off. "Not yet," he said, placing the armour on the ground. "Pull off the bandaid."

"What? No! He'll bleed out!" Lance yelled, pointing at the blood starting to pool underneath him.

"Have you seen the gauze on his side?" Shiro asked, a little impatiently. "It's covered in blood. It's not going to do anything."

He ripped the sleeve of the black suit off, tearing it in half to make a long strip.

"What are you doing?" Lance asked, looking between him and the sleeve. 

"Getting a new gauze for Keith," he grunted out, pulling off his other sleeve.

"Oh. _Oh_." Lance said, starting to pull off his current gauze.

"Put pressure on it when you're done," Shiro said, tying them together.

Lance obeyed Shiro, removing the gauze then placing his hands over the burn. 

"He's probably going to wake up, if he does, do not take your hands off. Okay?"

Lance nodded, applying further pressure onto the cut. Shiro took the Macgyver'd band aid and proceeded to wrap it around Keith's side. Being as skinny as Keith was, Shiro could wrap it around Keith a few times.

Around the second layre, Keith's eyes started to flutter open.

"Press a little harder," Shiro said, not noticing Keith was waking up.

Lance nodded again. "When do I take my hands off?" He asked, pressing harder as told.

Keith cried out in pain, tugging on weakly on Lance's arm. "Lance- what - Lance  _stop- Lance it hurts, please stop- Lance-_ " Keith between cries of pain when Lance pressed too hard.

"Just a few more seconds, pal," Lance murmured reassuringly, looking at Shiro to prove his statement.

Shiro nodded, wrapping it around Keith one more time. "Take your hands off."

Lance pulled his hands off, taking Keith's hand instead. He traced his knuckles lightly, watching as Shiro finished tying the gauze. 

"Well, would ya look at that. You are a red shirt!" Lance said, trying to calm Keith down. Or himself. He wasn't really sure.

Keith tried his best to glare at Lance, which was incredibly easy, considering how tired he was. "I'm not a red shirt." He huffed out, snatching his hand back from Lance.

It must've been Keith's delirious state, but he swore he saw an expression of sadness flash across Lance's face, quickly covered up by a smirk. "Burn. Burn. Broken leg. Probably broken ribs." Lance said, pointing to the injured parts of Keith.

"It's that prince that has the weird crush on you! Those aren't my fault!" Keith retorted, his voice going back to whisper. "No more yelling," he whispered, feeling his throat ache.

"It's not my fault my dashing good looks attract-" Lance looked up, watching Shiro double over on himself. "Shiro? Are you okay?" He asked, getting up from his spot.

Keith turned his head, unable to stand with the stupid broken leg. He watched Lance go to Shiro's side, rubbing a hand down his back. Wretched coughs were wracking Shiro's bigger frame, causing him to fall. 

Lance caught him with a struggle before he hit the ground, but could hardly hold Shiro. Before they could both collapse to the ground, Lance gently lowered themselves to it.

"What's going on?" Keith asked, commando crawling to where Lance was kneeling over Shiro. It caused an immense amount of pain, but he was more concerned over Shiro than his already dead leg.

"I don't know!" Lance cried, terrified of what was going on. "He was fine seconds ago?!"

A streak of blood was making a trail down Shiro's chin, before Shiro passed out, going limp in Lance's arms.

"What the hell?!" Lance shrieked, holding Shiro up. "Lotor! Lotor you've gotta fix whatever's wrong with him!"

The P.A system burst to life, emitting Lotor's voice. "And why would I do that?" His voice sounded as if he'd been crying.

"You want Kuro to stay alive, right?!" Lance shrieked again, watchig Shiro's body shake violently. He started talking again before Lotor answered. "Then fix him!"

There was no response from the speaker this time, but two sentries had walked into the room. 

"Move away from the champion." One sentry said, guns aimed at Lance and Keith.

Lance removed his hands from Shiro, placing him gently on the ground. Lance backed up, leaving room for the sentries to walk through.

The sentries stayed put, repeating itself. "Move away from the champion." It said, aiming its gun at Keith. 

Keith just stared at the sentry, unable to move any further. He opened his mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by Lance.

"He can't! He broke a leg, he can't move. There's enough room for you to get him, so just-"

"Move away from the champion." The robot said, completely ignoring Lance. 

Huffing at the robots, Keith tried to push himself away, only to find he didn't have the energy or strength. 

"Move away from the champion."

"Oh my God, you can clearly see that he can't."

Without any warning, whatsoever, the sentry that hadn't been talking shot it's blaster, aimed directly at Keith's head.

* * *

Coran and Allura burst into the control room, in the middle of a heated argument.

"But, princess, this could be our only shot at getting them back!"

"And risk The Red Lion getting into the hands of Zarkon in the process? No, Coran! I will not allow it!"

"But, Princess-"

"No!"

Allura walked to the control board, a silent Coran behind her. "How are we on finding them?"

Pidge looked up. "I still can't find them. They're might not be any security cameras where they are, but it's almost impossible to find them, Allura. We should let the Red Lion-"

"No. I will not risk the consequences."

Hunk had finally lost his temper. "Allura, Red is the only option we have! Tracking the helmets isn't working, and Pidge can't find them through their security cameras! We went in for you, and you expect us not to go in for them, at any costs? Keith could be dying for all we know!"

Allura was shocked at Hunk's outburst. He never yelled, never lost his temper. He was a big ball of sunshine. "I-I suppose you're right," she said, voice cracking slightly at the end. "Pidge, open the hangar doors. It's location will be in your lions. Be prepared to follow it."

Pidge nodded, a grin spreading across her face. "Open!" She yelled, slamming her laptop closed and placing it to the side, bolting from her seat.

Allura went and placed her hands on the two orbs, preparing to follow the Red Lion.

Hunk whooped and hollered into the comms.

They were finally going to get Keith and Lance back.

* * *

Everything moved as if it was slow motion. Lance was glued to the spot, unable to comprehend that Keith was about to die, unable to move from where he was laying down.

The blast slowly made its way to Keith's skull, and when it was inches away from his head, Lance was able to move again, with wide eyes.

"No! Keith!" He screamed, seconds before the blast would have hit him.

_Would have._

Shiro, being the God damn heroic angel he is, moved his Galran hand to take the shot. The blast only burnt Shiro's hand, not penetrating his hand. 

Shiro jumped from his spot on the ground, punching one of the sentries, while the other shot at Shiro. Lance moved from his spot, taking care of the second robot.

Once they were both on the ground, Lance noticed the door was still open. "Was this what you were planning?" Lance asked, moving to help Keith up.

"Partially," Shiro answered, draping Keith's other arm across his shoulders. "You alright?" he asked, walking with Keith and Lance to the door.

Keith nodded, too tired to answer.

Just as they reached the door, it slammed shut, causing Lance to stumble backwards, nearly dropping Keith. "Wha-"

"You think you can escape?" Lotor hissed through the speaker. "This was your final chance, Blue Paladin. Drop the Red Paladin now, and it will be less painful."

"We won't let you have him!" Shiro shouted back, taking Keith's full weight. 

There was no response.

Shiro backed away from the door, supporting Keith alone now. Keith was like deadweight in his arms, head lolling in whichever direction Shiro moved.

"Keith? You alright?"

Keith grunted in response, clearly trying to stay awake.

"You can pass out. It's fine." Shiro said, hating to see him in so much pain.

"No," he choked out.

Shiro sighed, looking down at Keith. "Alright. Just try not to hurt yourself by staying-" Shiro cut off, actually coughing this time. He placed Keith gently on the ground, who had already passed out.

Shiro, still coughing, looked over at Lance. Lance looked two seconds from passing out. "Lance," he said, trying to hold back his coughing. "what's wron-" This time, Shiro was unable to hold his coughing back. 

Shiro had fallen onto his hand and knees, coughing horribly.

Lance had fallen to the ground, unconscious from something.

Shiro heard the door closing, and someone entering, before passing out completely.

* * *

Lance woke up a few minutes before Shiro.

Lance looked around, instantly spotting a figure curled into a ball on the ground. He knew it was Shiro, seeing the robotic hand. Lance looked around more, standing up. Keith wasn't in the room. Slightly panicking, Lance remembered Lotor's words from before he passed out.

_This was your final chance, Blue Paladin. Drop the Red Paladin now, and it will be less painful._

Were they going to kill Keith?

Lance walked over to Shiro, who was slowly waking up. He bent down, helping Shiro up.

It took a minute before Shiro started talking, the memories obviously returning to him when his eyes widened in alarm. "Where's Keith?"

"I don't know," Lance sighed. "He was gone when I was up."

"Whe-" Shiro stopped talking, watching the visual on the wall.

Lance groaned, seeing the visual. It was Keith strapped to a chair, the same room Lance was previously in. Kuro was walking around him in circles, stopping after a few times. He moved closer to Keith, who was awake, dragging his claws (when did he get claws?) down his face.

"Are they fucking torturing him?" Lance shouted, ready to kill every god damn Galra in the universe. 

Shiro stared at the wall, eyes wide, mouth pulled back into a thin line. His robotic hand was clenched, turning purple.

"This is what happens," Lotor's voice spoke, snickering. "when you disobey me."

Lance watched Keith scream at the electricity going through him.

"What was that? Higher?" Kuro said, wanting more damage.

Kuro turned the electricity up, turning his back to Keith. He turned around once more, holding a large, sharp weapon in his hands.

He walked towards Keith, ready to strike, when the wall of the room tore open. Red was hovering beyond the hole, tail blaster up.

The visual faded out, and only the noise of Kuro and Keith's screams could be heard.

A sudden screeching sound was heard in the cell Lance and Shiro were in, revealing cuts in the wall.

They seemed to be on a planet, as they could still breathe. Light shines in through the hole in the wall, a green Lion in view.

"Shiro, Lance!" Pidge yelled, opening her Lion's mouth. "Get in!" 


	8. Here comes Mama Bear.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did you know Mother Bears would kill anything in its path if it's cub died?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe...  
> i didn't add the tag due to spoilers...  
> Major Character Death  
> tag for this chapter >:)  
> (ik ik, you hate me.)

Pidge and Hunk raced out of the castle, following the Red Lion to wherever Keith and Lance could be.

It only took a few minutes for Red to reach it's destination. It let out an angered roar, as if feeling it's cubs pain, which it most likely did. 

Pidge hacked into the surveillance footage of the base, looking for Keith and Lance.

What she didn't expect, though, was to see Keith strapped in a chair being electrocuted by Kuro.

One more thing she didn't expect? Well, she didn't expect to see Shiro. Lance and Shiro were watching what was happening to Keith, while Lance was trying to wrench the door open.

She flew towards they would be, hearing an explosion, followed by smoke from the ship. Red's roars were very loud. They could be heard all over this planet.

"Hunk," Pidge said, seeing fighters fly towards them. "Cover me. I'm getting Lance and Shiro."

"Shiro?" He yelled, slight static coming from his ends. "Isn't that Kuro?"

"No," she said, choking the rest out. "Kuro's, er, torturing Keith?"

Pidge heard Hunk, who never cursed, curse several times. "Okay, just hurry and get them. We need to get Keith."

"I think Red has that covered," she said, noticing lasers in her direction.

Pidge flew her lion to where they were, destroying a wall in the progress.

Lance and Shiro immediately turned to her, faces flooding with relief.

"Lance! Shiro!" Pidge shouted, opening her Lion's mouth. "Get in!"

* * *

Keith heard the explosion, but couldn't figure out what was going on.

He knew his hands were strapped to a chair, and blood was trailing down his face. He could feel the excruciating pain from the electricity, hearing Kuro cackle, and up until the explosion, Keith could see (mostly) fine.

Before the wall burst open, Kuro had been standing over him, ready to stab. The explosion knocked him off his feet, pushing him to the ground. Several parts of the wall had been torn off, some hitting the ground near Keith, one hitting his leg, and another- well, here's the thing. You know this universe we're living in, right now? Yea, well, it seems to hate Keith. He doesn't know why, but it makes his life shit.

A shard from the wall, an extremely big and hard piece, had wrenched itself into Keith's chest, building a new home. He was still screaming, and still trying to stop screaming, from the electricity running through him, and abruptly stopped when it hit his chest. 

Everything was blurs pushed together. Some were Red and white, others were purple, black yellow, and more purple. 

God, how he hated that stupid colour. Purple, purple, purple. Everything bad was purple. Galras, Barney the dinosaur, poison oak, purple grapes.

(" _What the hell is wrong with you, Keith? Everybody loves purple grapes!"_

_"They're bitter."_

_Lance smacked his forehead. "All grapes are bitter, you dimwit!_ ")

Everything was fading in and out of view. The blasts that Red was clearly shooting at Kuro, the electricity running through his body, the sharp pain in his side and chest-

The electricity had shut off, and his hands were released. 

Keith's eyes fluttered open, (when had he closed them?) to see Kuro snarling above him.  He had managed to get something to cover him, so the blasts from Red wouldn't hit him.

He grabbed Keith by his throat with his robotic hand, still holding the piece of metal taking the blasts. He lifted him from the seat, and started running out of the room. 

Everything was fuzzier than before. Keith had managed to loosen Kuro's grip, by at least half of a centimetre, letting some air get into his system. That lasted for two seconds. This time, Kuro tightened his hold, his hand glowing. Keith's neck was going to have lots of scars. Hooray.

Kuro ran until he found another hole in the wall. He had discarded the metal a little while ago, but Keith could hear Red, outside of the ship, shooting the walls, trying to get to him. 

Kuro held him outside of the hole, letting his feet dangle in the air. Keith didn't care that Kuro was the only thing keeping him from falling, he'd rather die than be with him again.

"Come join us. You're a Galra after all." Kuro said, grinning maliciously.

"No," Keith choked out, finding his vision turning black.

"Oh well. Guess it's the end for the Red Paladin." Kuro cackled, ripping the metal out of his chest. 

Keith didn't have the time to comprehend what had just happened, when he was thrown off of the ship.

* * *

Lance and Shiro had entered the green Lion, Lance slightly more hesitant. After she assured them Red was getting Keith, they had gotten in the Lion. 

Pidge had stayed in her seat, anxious to get to Lance and Shiro, but resisted.

"Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine--" Shiro tried to say, only to be cut off by Lance.

"Mr.Muscle over here has a cut going down his chest." Lance said, inches away from jabbing at it.

"I'll be fine." Shiro insisted, whacking Lance's hand away.

Pidge ignored him, pulling the Green Lion away. "There's some band-"

"Pidge! I don't think that's a good thing!" Hunk screamed through the comms, flying towards a blob that was descending in the sky.

"What is it?" she asked, racing towards where Hunk was trying to catch this blur-- No. Not blur. Keith.

Keith had fallen out of the ship.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod-" Pidge screamed, flying faster towards Keith.

"Katie!" Shiro said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong??"

"Keith- he's- there- sky- ship!" She screamed, too panicky to form an actual word.

Fortunately, Shiro had seen what she was looking at. 

"Lance! Get to the Lion's mouth! Be ready to keep Keith from falling off!" 

Lance obeyed, holding onto the wall of the Green to keep himself from falling when it's mouth opened. Shiro walked over to the other side, gripping onto the side of Green's mouth.

Pidge had maneuvered the Green Lion into the perfect position to catch Keith. It was tilted slightly, but not enough for them to all fall backwards. 

A few seconds after Shiro had grabbed the wall, Keith had slammed into the mouth of Green.

Keith groaned at the impact, his eyes sliding shut.

Shiro removed his death grip on the wall, seconds before Lance. He made his way towards Keith, who was slowly sliding off of the floor, grabbed him by his arms and dragged him up the ramp. Lance had grabbed his feet, forgetting about the broken leg, helping Shiro lift him.

Keith cried out in pain the second Lance grabbed his ankle.

Lance immediately let go of his feet, and backed up from Keith. "Close the mouth!" Lance yelled, trying to keep his balance.

Pidge slammed the mouth shut, but not before you could see an extremely pissed off Red Lion.

Shiro had managed to drag Keith into the cockpit, laying him on the ground. "First aid supplies," Shiro breathed, looking at Keith's new scars, and his chest. "OhmyGod- First aid supplies, now. Where." It was more of a demand than it was a question.

Pidge gripped the controls, knuckles going white. "Cupboard beside you. Hunk, we've got Keith. Can you keep them  from shaking the Lion too much?"

"Yea," Hunk said. "Is Keith alright though?"He grunted, going beside the Lion to take a blast.

Pidge chucked her helmet at Lance. "I can't see him," was her only explanation.

Lance put the helmet near his ear, explaining the shit Keith had been through, and what he looked like now.

"Oh my god- Is he dead? Please tell me he's not dead. I can't deal with a dead Keith! Is he okay? Is he breathing-"

Lance gave the helmet back to Pidge, not wanting to hear Hunk's rambling. "Allura, get a wormhole open, please." She choked out, voice cracking at the end.

She heard the shit Keith had dealt with, and here he was, dying in her Lions cockpit.

This is not how she wanted to see them again.

" _Shit, shit, shit_ \- Keith, come on buddy-"

"Shiro, what's wrong?" Pidge asked, not used to hearing him swear. She had entered and exited the wormhole with Hunk, getting closer to the castle.

Shiro continued pleading at Keith to wake up, to breathe, to be alive. Anything. 

Lance had a death grip on the pilots seat, staring out of the Lions eyes. He didn't want to know what was happening.

What was happening? Keith's heart had stopped beating.

"Oh thank God-" Shiro finally said.

Lance removed his death grip on the chair, turning around to face Shiro, who was still working on getting Keith to breathe.

Shiro had reverted to mouth-to-mouth, which was working ever so slightly. He had done it three times now, and Keith still wasn't awake- Keith still wasn't breathing.

It didn't matter if you started someone's heart if they didn't breathe.

Lance wasn't sure when he had sat down, but he was kneeling beside Keith, pushing on his chest while Shiro breathed into his mouth.

Six, seven, eight, nine- Lance had lost count how many times Shiro had gone back down.

A sudden sharp intake of breath jolted Lance out of his thoughts. He stopped pushing Keith' chest- at this point, he was basically just punching Keith. Keith was breathing. 

Sure, they were probably too short breaths of air, and it probably set his throat on die, but he was breathing. 

Now they just needed a pod. Keith would be okay.

Pidge had landed into her hangar, opening the Green Lions mouth. Coran and Allura were outside of it, a hovering stretcher ready to place Keith on. 

Allura had a brave face on, but Lance knew she was hiding her fear. Lance helped Shiro carry him to the stretcher, seeing Shiro's energy leaving him. 

Lance and Shiro ran on either side of the stretcher, hurrying to a pod. Pidge and Hunk were behind them, Allura pushing one end while Coran pulled the other.

Everything went by so fast, it seemed like it was a dream to Lance.

They brought him to the med-bay,  not having enough time to place him in the healing suit, they had put him in his tattered clothing he left with. After that, they had to literally push Shiro into a pod.

Lance had refused to go into a pod, saying he would go in when he knew Keith was fine. His chest had stopped bleeding, but he was getting rough migraines from the electricity. Not that he was going to tell anyone, of course.

Lance wasn't sure how long he had sat there until Hunk forced him to eat. After Lance explained what happened, they knew it was Shiro , and not another Kuro. And with Shiro here, Kuro wouldn't be able to live longer than a day.

Against everyone's protests, (" _Lance, you need rest. Please-" "Jesus, are you my mom, Pidge? I'll get rest when Keith and Shiro wake up._ ") Lance had left to go back to the med-bay. Hunk had soon entered, becoming a pillow for Lance.

Soon enough, he had fallen asleep, using Hunk as a pillow and Pidge as a blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> terchanyally, (technically), keith did die. so maybe i meant temporary character death and did that to make you guys kinda squirm lol. i don't have it in  
> me to kill anyone. yea, so, there'll be like one more chapter, then i'll make the aftermath and turn this into a series, and how they're still coping and whatever, even when it's been months from this lol. also, sorry for late updates, and you can skip the 'dull' last note. i don't know why it's even there. anyways, hope you enjoyed.  
> bout one more chapter . then aftermath. then this turns into a series .(if you didn't read all of that it's a little summary.  
> next update will be in around two days.


	9. Happy Endings!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...  
>  not really. Keith pretty much died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO VERY SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE  
> IVE BEEN BUSY WITH FRIENDS AND SCHOOL AND I DECIDED TO PROCRASTINATE BY WRITING OTHER STORIES AND AGH IM SORRY  
> i'll try and make this extra enjoyable just for the three day late update

He was falling from the Galra ship, and landing on something really hard. This thing soothed him, even if he was bleeding out.

Something gripped under his arms, dragging him somewhere. Something else grabbed his ankle. The one with his broken leg. Before he could bite down to keep from crying out, a scream tore through his lips. The hand let go, but the arms remained under him.

"..outh!" Someone, probably Shiro, yelled.

He wasn't able to catch anything else. He had passed out.

* * *

One minute, he was falling to his death. The next, he woke up, stumbling out of something cold.

Keith couldn't retain his balance, but, luckily, found himself in someone's arms. "Shiro...?" he mumbled, blinking his eyes open. All he could see was a fuzzy brown figure holding him up, tear streaks down his face. 

"Oh my god, Keith! Don't ever do that again! You almost died!" The blur, probably Hunk, screamed. Hunk let go of him, but was still supporting Keith's weight. Keith still wasn't trusting his legs to hold him. Someone walked up to Keith, ready to hug him, but Keith flinched away, pushing himself from Hunk.

Now that? That was a bad idea. His vision swam, causing him to fall to the floor. Someone caught his waist right before he hit the floor. Keith knew he was acting irrationally, but the fear that overtook his body didn't think about logic. He wanted out. These people were going to hurt him, even if they were his friends. Keith started to hyperventilate. 

"Keith! Keith, calm down!" Shiro yelled, failing to calm him down. "No one's going to hurt you!" He said once Keith had started pushing himself off of Shiro. Shiro refused to let go, pulling him to an embrace. Keith flinched, but leaned into the touch. He rubbed his hand up and down Keith's back in a calming motion. "It's okay," he breathed, seeing as Keith continued to hyperventilate. Keith was calming down.

"Shiro-" Keith choked, breaths becoming too fast and short. "Shiro, let go- please- I can't- too close-"

Shiro let go immediately, remembering what Lotor did to Keith. He had shoved him in a box, and Keith probably had Claustrophobia. It took him a few minutes to breathe properly again, and a few more to actually calm down. He looked at Hunk, who happened to be the only person in the room. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, "It's just, what they did-"

Hunk cut him off, pulling him into a hug. Once again, Keith flinched, but wrapped his arms around Hunk all the same. "It's okay, Keith. You don't need to explain anything. I'm just happy you're okay." He said, letting go of Keith. He felt tears well up at the corner of his eyes.

"What time is it?" Keith asked, suddenly aware of how tired he was.

"Late." Shiro replied, not actually able to say if it were 1:30am or 5:20pm. There wasn't really a time in space. They had Castle Hours, but Shiro couldn't actually read it. Coran was working on translating it.

"Is everyone asleep?" Keith asked, realizing how loud they were.

"Mostly, yea. We actually had to make Lance and  Pidge sleep in their beds." Shiro answered, chuckling a little. "You should probably get some rest," Shiro added, placing a hand on Keith's back.  Keith flinched. Shiro's face turned into an emotion of anger, but was quickly replaced with the look of concern. Keith wondered if he had imagined it.

"Hunk, you should sleep too." Shiro said, leading Keith out of the doorway.

"No, I'm good. I'm pretty sure it's close to breakfast," Hunk said, pointing to the clock behind him. "So, I'm going to go make something special for today." Hunk left the room quickly after them.

Shiro and Keith walked in silence to his bedroom. Keith leaned onto Shiro for support, his legs still feeling like jelly. Before entering the bedroom, Keith turned around. "I'm sorry," he whispered, careful not to wake anyone up.

"For what?" Shiro asked, shocked by the question.

"I-I couldn't help, or anything while we were there. I don't remember much, but I know Lotor made me absolutely useless, and- I'm sorry," Keith choked, voice cracking at the end.

"Keith, that wasn't your fault-" Shiro tried to say, but Keith interrupted him.

"Yes, it was! I could have stopped Kuro from taking us, I could have- I should have known it wasn't you! And thanks to that, we all nearly died! I was in one of the stupid pods for God knows how long, useless and you couldn't form Voltron! I didn't do anything, and now I can't be touched by anyone without flinching! I'm acting as if you guys-" Shiro pulled the trembling boy into a hug. 

"Keith, it's not your fault. None of it was your fault. None of you knew it wasn't me, and it's fine. You're not useless, and the flinching is fine, Keith. You went through a horrible experience, and it's fine to be scared." Shiro soothed, rubbing Keith's back. Keith had started to cry, wrapping his arms around Shiro. Shiro pushed Keith away from him a little, looking into his eyes. "Why don't you get some sleep now?"

Keith's face flushed, and he looked down at hi feet. "I-" Keith coughed, trying to find his voice. "I don't want to be alone," Keith admitted, pulling his arms from Shiro. Keith returned his gaze to Shiro's face, expecting a look of disappointment. He saw a sad smile on Shiro's face.

"I would let you come sleep in my room, but I hurt while I sleep." Shiro said, wanting to help Keith in anyway possible.

Keith looked at him again. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Er, I kick and punch, really hard. It's because of when I was a prisoner of the Galra." Shiro explained, watching Keith's expression change from slight confusion to sadness in a matter of seconds. "I'm sorry," Shiro added, pulling Keith into another hug.

Keith, once again, and not at all surprisingly, flinched when Shiro moved his arms. Keith let go, and so did Shiro. "I-"

"What's going on?" Lance mumbled, leaning heavily against his doorway.

Keith flinched at the sudden loud voice. Shiro rubbed his shoulder. "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you." He smiled, then turned around to face Lance. "Keith's awake."

Lance eyes suddenly widened, forgetting he was tired. "He, uh, also doesn't want to sleep alone, right now, and I-" Shiro tried to explained, waving his hand around in a vague gesture. Keith's face flushed when Shiro mentioned he didn't want to sleep alone. Keith rubbed his arm, trying to look anywhere but Lance's face.

"He can sleep in here, if he wants." Lance said, sleepy state returning. He slumped against the doorway once more. 

Keith stepped backwards, knowing Lance had already saw him. "No, it's-"

Shiro pushed Keith forwards. "He wants too." Shiro answered for him.

Huffing, Keith let himself be pushed forwards. Lance looked at Keith, head to toes. Keith felt self-conscious while he did so. He looked down, only to see his shirt torn into rags. 

"Why aren't I in one of those healing suits?" Keith asked, picking at one of the holes. Some memories surfaced in Keith's brain, making him shudder.

"Oh, uh, we sort of didn't have time?" Lance said, hoping Keith wouldn't freak. All Lance wanted to do was hug the poor guy, but he knew for sure Keith would freak. They were just friends. They didn't hug.

 _Just friends_.

That thought kept him up at night. Lance wanted to be so much more than friends. He wanted to-

"I'm gonna change, or something-" Keith said, turning around.

Keith went to walk into his room to grab a shirt, and then stay there, because no way in hell was he sleeping in the same room as Lance, especially since Lance obviously didn't feel the same way about him as he did about Lance, but the door didn't open. He tried again. "Is the door broken?" Keith asked, turning to face Shiro.

Shiro furrowed his brows, stepping towards the pad and placing his hand on it. He tried once more, and instead of it staying closed, it made a sound that sounded like metal grinding together. Keith winced. Everything he heard was still very, very loud. 

"That's," Shiro coughed, slightly uncomfortable with the situation. "That doesn't sound right." He finally decided. 

Keith tensed. He knew what this meant. 

"So, you might be spending some time with Lance for the next few days." Shiro stated.

Lance was fine with that. The last time he saw Keith, Keith was dying on the Green Lion. He did die on the Green Lion. Lance was so lost in thought he didn't hear Shiro's next words.

"Lance?" Shiro asked, waving his hand in front of his face. 

Lance blinked a few times. When did Shiro get in front of Lance? Keith was standing beside Shiro, rubbing his arm. When did they get in front of him? "Yea?"

"Did you hear me?" Shiro asked.

"...No." Lance admitted, moving away from the doorway to let Keith in. Keith flinched when Lance moved. Lance stared at Keith, unsure of how to respond.

"Keith will need to borrow a shirt or something." Shiro said, motioning to the torn up shirt he was wearing now. 

"Oh, yea. 'Course." Lance said, pushing himself further from the doorway. When Keith didn't enter, he froze a little bit. The expression on Keith, the fearless jackass, looked almost scared. "Are you coming?" Lance asked, concern lacing his voice.

Keith looked up, taking a step forward. Keith nodded, entering the room. Shiro left for his own room, getting much needed rest. Lance walked to the closet, light still off, to grab Keith a shirt.

The door slid shut, giving out a slight this when it hit the ground. Keith jumped, screaming as he did so. 

Lance whipped around, hearing the quiet scream. "Keith? Are you okay?" He asked, rushing to his side with a shirt over his shoulder.

Keith tried to focus his breathing. "Y-yea," Keith said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. He really wanted a hug from Lance right now, more than anything. But, sadly, Lance wasn't a mind reader. Oh, how he wished Lance was.

Lance lightly patted his shoulder, realizing the door scared him. He wanted to hug Keith, whisper to him he'd be fine over and over, touch- Lance sighed, handing him his shirt. "Here," Lance said, sad that he couldn't do any of that.

Keith took the shirt, watching Lance turn around. Lance knew he'd be uncomfortable taking off his shirt while he watched. Keith quickly took off his shirt, putting Lances on. A heavy whiff of Lance entered his nose. He never wanted that smell to leave his nose.

Lance laid down on the bed, pushing himself against the wall to make room for Keith. 

"Oh, uh, I can sleep on the floor-" Keith said, already bending over.

"Dude, no. You slept on the floor for over a week. You're sleeping on the bed." Lance said, pulling the blanket back. 

Keith shifted uncomfortably, but obeyed anyways. Keith laid down beside Lance, and Lance pulled the covers over them.

They laid down in silence, allowing Keith to think about their current situation.

He was laying down in a twin sized bed, with a blanket that covered all of him, that was way too close to his skin. He could feel the blanket getting tighter and tighter against his skin, trying to make him stop breathing-

"Keith?" Lance asked cautiously, sitting up. The blanket fell off of him. "Are you okay?" He asked, watching Keith hyperventilate.

"W-wh-" Keith tried to say, only to be cut off by his own breathing that was coming too fast, and too short. Keith wheezed, trying to take an actual breath, but he was too panicked. 

"Keith, come on, you've gotta breathe. Calm down. You're okay, we're safe now. You're safe now. You're fine," Lance reassured Keith pulling him into a hug. Lance rubbed circles into his back in an attempt to calm Keith. 

After a few minutes, Keith finally went limp in Lance's arms, his own arms hanging loosely around Lances waist. He felt... safe with Lance.

Lance removed a hand from Keith's back, cupping Keith's cheek. He looked at Keith, face filled with concern.

"Better now?"

Keith nodded, tightening his hold on Lance as Lance started letting go. "Oh, okay." Lance breathed, tightening his hold on Keith. 

Keith let go after a few seconds, laying back down. Lance laid down too. "'m sorry," Keith whispered, not wanting to wake anyone up.

Lance propped his head on his hand, and stared at Keith. "For what? Freaking out? Keith, I saw what they did to you. You were brace the entire time. It's fine to be scared now. You're safe here."

Keith continued looking at the ceiling.

"And besides," Lance said, laying back down. "I prefer you sleeping here. It reassures me that you're alive and fine."

Keiths breath hitched. No one other than Shiro had worried like that about him. "I thought- I thought you only said you'd let me sleep in here because of Shiro-"

Lance turned his head to look at Keith. "No! No, no, I just needed to know you were alive, and fine and-" Lances voice cracked. "You died, Keith. You scared the shit out of me."

Keith picked at the edge of the blanket. "Sorry..."

"I don't need you to apologize, Keith. I just needed to know you were breathing again." Lance admitted, sighing as he heard Keith breathe. "And I should be the one to say sorry."

"What? Why?" Keith asked. Lance hadn't done anything wrong.

"I probably broke a few of your ribs."

Keith gasped. "When? Wait- what? Why?!"

"You weren't breathing, then your heart sort of stopped, so Shiro did mouth-to-mouth while I performed CPR. Well, uh, I basically just punched your chest over and over, but still. Sorry."

Keith snorted. He felt his eyes drift shut.

Lance saw the movement, and closed his own eyes. "Night, Mullet." he whispered, but Keith was already asleep, curling against Lance's side.

Lance sighed contently. He knew Keith was alive and breathing as he allowed himself to sleep, wrapping an arm around Keith, who was now pushed against his side, stealing his warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh! so cute! Keith curled into Lance while he was sleeping! So, yea. this was the last chapter of this story. but, luckily, this is becoming a series, and therell be mini stories on how keith copes with everything and the actUAL KLANCE WILL FINALLY COME AHAHAH. yea so i'm excited to write this.  
> don't worry guys! this is not the very end! it says 9/9 but i'm making it a series ahhhhhhaaaa.   
> any feedback is greatly appreciated, and if you want to say any ideas for the series just let me know through comments!  
> haha  
> bye now  
> hope you enjoyed this chapter, because i enjoyed writing this.

**Author's Note:**

> yea so, gotta admit, this was pretty dull. i know lots of you crave dat hurt stuff, so, next chapter will be very, er... well, not dull.  
> haha.  
> ha.  
> so, yea. enjoy the mini series.  
> if there are any typos you saw or ideas you have for it, just leave a comment.  
> bye now.


End file.
